


Battles, Magic and Homework

by FeralPrince56



Category: DCU (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Magic School, No knowledge about FE required, Took a few liberties here and there, fire emblem three houses au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 71,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21960052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralPrince56/pseuds/FeralPrince56
Summary: After saving the lives of three students, Barbara becomes the newest professor at the Officers Academy- an institution lead by the Church and created to train the future nobility and leaders of Fódlan into knights, soldiers and powerful mages. Going from the life of a mercenary to that of a teacher isn't easy, especially when you have a little girl in your head berating you at every step, but Barbara was never one to back down from such a challenge.It's not supposed to be a tough job, just teach some snobby kids and train them, right? That is, it should have been if not for those who slither in the dark.
Relationships: Artemis Crock/Wally West, Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Raven/Rose Wilson
Comments: 13
Kudos: 19





	1. A Mission to Remember

“Hey... are you alright?”

A woman’s soft voice is the first thing Barbara hears in the last five hours that isn’t a shriek of pain or an order shouted across the battlefield. Her eyes slowly open, only to find three unknown figures looming over her- a man with dark hair donning a blue cape with a lance held tightly in his hand, a second man with short red hair, golden cape and bow slung over his shoulder, and the aforementioned woman with white hair, red cape and battle axe in the hand that wasn’t gently tapping at Barbara’s shoulder in an attempt to wake her up.

“At least that’s one more person saved,” the red headed man comments and leans away, as does the woman. The dark-haired man lingers before extending a hand to help her stand up.

“More like she saved us,” the man helping her up replies, “I’d like to think we had the situation covered but a lot more bandits would’ve escaped if she hadn’t helped out.”

The woman clears her throat while Barbara pats at her cloak, doing her best to get the mud and other debris off of it, “Yes, about that... I should thank you for saving my life. I was acting carelessly, and had you not stepped in, surely I would not be returning to the monastery.”

Was that really what happened? Barbara has definitely stepped in to save the stranger from the bandit leader that came charging at her, but she was certain that it was her who ended up taking the blow... and yet here she was, standing like she didn’t have a scratch on her body.

**_Are you always so naive? Do you truly not remember what happened?_ **

What the... judging by the other fighters’ expressions, it was only Barbara that heard the voice of a young girl in her head. Bringing it up now when she was already confused by the situation and had apparently briefly fallen unconscious was a bad idea, so she remains silent.

**_Hmpf, well now is not the time for me to explain any of this to you, at least not while you’re talking to these children. Unlike you, I do have some manners and a concept of respect for another being._ **

Yeah, she’ll ignore the voice for now.

The woman in red continues, “Skills like those are not easy to come by these days. You must be quite talented, and it would be foolish of me to not make use of such an opportunity.”

The dark-haired man chuckles and folds his arms, “You’re going to make her an offer before either of us have a chance to say anything? That’s pretty inconsiderate of you.”

The woman rolls her eyes and waves a hand in his direction, “Very well then. Perhaps you’d like to hear each of us out before making your decision. Allow me to start,” she puts a hand to her chest, “I am Donna Troy of the Adrestian Empire, and I am future Emperor. The Empire would do well with you within its ranks.”

“You’re offering her a job already?” The red-haired man asks, and both Donna and the other man nod, “You do know she just passed out, right? Are you quite sure she’s in the right headspace to make that decision?”

“Weren’t you going to make her an offer, Roy?” The dark-haired man asks, “I can’t help but think she’s exactly the kind of person your territory needs right now.”

“I had the manners to at least think about getting to know her first before I said anything,” Roy says, putting his hand on his hip, “Well, if you’re all so eager, might as well come out and say it; I’m Roy William Harper from the Leceister Alliance. You should probably join us, at least there won’t be as much drama as you’ll have with those two.”

“Ha!” The dark-haired man exclaims, shaking his head, “And how is your ongoing battle at Fódlan’s throat going?” He looks over to Barbara, “I think you’re best off joining the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.”

“Oh really, Richard?” Donna asks him with a smirk, “You’re hardly one to comment about the state of affairs of another country. Your uncle is barely able to contain the situation there as is, and you’re asking her to join such a mess.”

“It’ll keep matters interesting,” Richard shrugs, “You don’t choose the life of a mercenary unless you’re looking for a life filled with excitement, right?”

“That’s enough,” a gruff voice says, and takes the attention away from Barbara and onto her mentor, “We’ve helped out with the danger, it’s time we go. Do you have everything with-.”

“Bruce?” A voice shouts from the figures emerging from the nearby forest, “Of course it’s you, Bruce! No wonder all the bandits are gone now, they probably ran away screaming when they saw you here!” The knight chuckles from the distance and comes closer.

“No way out now…” Bruce sighs and looks from Barbara, then the lords, then back to Barbara, “Play nice,” he tells her before walking over to the knights heading in their direction.

“I wonder what that was all about…” Roy mutters to himself, and without warning, follows Bruce to listen in on their conversation, clearly no longer interested in Barbara’s reply. She’s left with the two other lords, who still look expectantly at her, waiting for a reply.

“I have to be honest here… I’m a mercenary first. I’m not interested in working for a king or an emperor,” seeing the disappoint appear in her eyes, she quickly tries to correct herself, “But if I ever wanted to settle down, if by then you’ll still have me… I suppose the kingdom does have plenty of excitement to offer from what I heard.”

“I’ll gladly have you,” Richard grins and bows his head, eyes quickly widening at the realisation of how his words might’ve come across, “As a knight!” He clears his throat, “I meant to say, I would gladly have you join my ranks as a knight. Would that be agreeable?”

Barbara nods, and Donna’s left only with a sigh, “Perhaps I should have made my offer more enticing… nevertheless, we should regroup with the knights and inform them of what happened here… I’ve yet to see the professor.”

“The professor?” Richard raises an eyebrow, “They ran as soon as the bandits arrived. I hoped that it was his attempt to get the Knights of Seiros but I don’t see him with them. Regardless, he abandoned us even though we’re only students.”

“Students?” Barbara asks them, but before she gets a proper response from either of them, the knights walk over and intrude on their conversation.

“Who’s this young lady?” The dark-haired knight asks as soon as he approaches, and Bruce doesn’t look any happier talking to him now than he did before he joined them.

“This is my child, Barbara,” Bruce says before Barbara can say anything. Child? Surely, he had good reason to call her that, so she plays along for now, “We were both on a mission here before those bandits attacked. If you’ll excuse us, we have to get back to that.”

“Nonsense!” The knight exclaims, “Come on, Bruce, you don’t think I can just let you come near Garreg Mach without telling the archbishop, right? She sounded very interested in meeting you again after all these years. Don’t tell me you want to miss out on that?”

The archbishop knew Bruce? What else did Barbara not know about him… other than the fact that clearly Garreg Mach was the last place he wanted to go, if his usually indiscernible expression was anything to go by, “Come on, Barbara. Let’s go.”

As the rest of the party makes its way back towards the forest from which the knights emerged, only Richard hangs back, hand pressed against his chin in thought. He looks up to catch Barbara staring, “Bruce’s child, huh? You must get your looks from your mother then.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Barbara asks him with narrowed eyes, while Richard hums back innocently.

“It means if you have something to hide, in your place I would stay away from Roy. It’s his ability to uncover any and all secrets that he prides himself on, not his title,” Richard says with a smirk before re-joining the rest of the group, this time leaving Barbara to walk behind everyone else.

The more she thinks about the lords as she watches them, the more she realises why exactly Bruce had lied to them.

* * *

Eventually, the party splits into two, with the knights and Bruce walking ahead and the lords hanging back to chat with Barbara, curious about how she came to obtain such skills and eager to learn from her, “You know,” Roy continues one of his thoughts, “I doubt the archbishop will take the old professor back. Part of me is kind of hoping you’re the one who’ll teach in his stead.”

Barbara lifts her hand up and waves off the thought, shaking her head, “I’m no teacher. I know how to wield a weapon properly, when to use it and how to lead a battalion of mercenaries against the enemy, but I don’t think I could pass those skills on. I’m sorry to disappoint you like this.”

“Perhaps all we need is simply to watch you,” Donna offers with a small smile, “Demonstrations are often far more informative than a simple lecture. I do hope that we will at least be able to see you on the battlefield once more as a trusted ally.”

Richard nods, “Would be a shame if our paths would never cross again. Say,” he pauses,

Barbara shakes her head, “I’ll be happy to have a look around. Judging by Bruce’s behaviour, I think we’ll be doing more than just simply passing by.”

“You call your father by his name?” Roy asks, and Barbara’s immediately reminded of her conversation with Richard, the his small grin not escaping her, “I would have thought being a mercenary would have made you closer to him if anything.”

Quick to react, Barbara shakes her head, “He’s been a great mentor to me, but a mercenary life doesn’t leave you with much room for family time and bonding. I don’t personally find it lacking, in truth… I actually quite like the relationship we do have. It’s unique, I guess.”

The rest of the way up to the monastery Barbara stays silent, listening to the other three discuss their classes, classmates, teachers, anything you’d expect three students to be discussing. It’s different, far different than most conversations Barbara hears over the campfires late at night when the battles been won and the mercenaries need rest, but it’s refreshing seeing the three happily speak of something less gruesome than the scene they left behind them.

At the monastery, they bid their goodbyes, each leaving in a different direction, as do the knights, leaving Barbara alone with Bruce again. She turns to check if anyone could hear her conversation before speaking, “So I’m your daughter now?” She says in a low voice, “Will I get an explanation?”

“As soon as we leave,” Bruce promises her and looks up, “For now, I’ll need you to keep playing along. No one here can find out who you really are, got it?” Barbara nods silently, and with the conversation taking a necessary rain check, Bruce walks further into the monastery, “Follow me. I suspect we’re already being expected.”

“By the archbishop?” Barbara asks, but does as she’s told by following him through the gates, “who is she, anyway? I know you don’t like to talk about your past, or mine, but if I’m supposed to act in a certain way, I’ll need to know a little more than just being told to play along.”

Bruce shakes his head, “I’m sure the archbishop will be happy to fill you in on everything herself. I… worked for her, a long time ago, as a Knight of Seiros. I can’t tell you the conversation we’re about to have will be a pleasant one.”

They pass through the doors to a hall where two women await them near what appeared to be a throne. The blonde woman with the opulent headwear steps closer to the two mercenaries as they approach her, “Bruce, it has been far too long since we last met. I would have thought that you’re trying your best to stay as far from the Church of Seiros as possible.”

“Archbishop Dinah,” He replies back with a bow of his head, “I’ve been quite busy over the years, with work, and with my child,” Bruce says, motioning over to Barbara with his hand.

“So I’ve heard,” the archbishop replies, giving Barbara a once over, “Clark has informed that you’ve been busy all these years caring for her. I understand that coming back to the church while she was still growing up may have proved difficult. Yet here you are once again, and your child has grown into a beautiful woman.”

“You don’t need to dance around the issue, Dinah,” Bruce says, voice quickly changing from polite to bitter, “I’ll come back to the knights. Not that you’ve left me with much choice in that regard.”

“Ah, I see Clark has already spoken to you about my intentions,” the archbishop smiles, “It would be foolish of me not to ask you to come back and serve the church once more.”

Bruce shakes his head, “He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to.”

“A shame,” the archbishop replies nonchalantly, “Regardless, there are urgent matters I must attend to,” she motions to the other woman standing next to her, “I do not believe you have met yet. This is my trusted advisor, Karen. She will see to it that you make yourselves comfortable during your stay here.”

With that, the archbishop leaves them, while Karen steps away to speak to a nearby priest, giving Barbara an opportunity to ask Bruce her questions, “we’re staying here?”

“Yes, and it looks like I’m not the only one whose services are required,” Bruce glances over to the advisor, “Those kids you were talking to earlier… I don’t doubt the archbishop is going to ask you to take care of them.”

“As their servant?” Barbara asks with her eyebrow raised. Sure they were nice and all, but like hell was she going to serve a royal she never recognised till the night before.

Bruce consoles her worries by shaking his head, “As their teacher. They’re down one, and I’m sure they’ll want you to step in. I want you to say yes, but ultimately, the choice is yours.”

“I’ve never taught anyone before…” Barbara mutters to herself mostly, but it’s still loud enough for Bruce to hear it, “But I trust your judgement. I can’t just leave you here on your own. I’ll try to help as best as I can, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be any good at teaching these kids… Then again, don’t think I can really call them kids if they’re as old as I am.”

Karen returns, and first looks over to Barbara, “We hadn’t expected you, so your quarters are still being prepared. I suggest you take this time to familiarise yourself with the monastery and the students of the Officer’s Academy. You’ve already met Donna, Richard and Roy, haven’t you? I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to speak to you about each of their houses.”

Unsure of what to do, she looks over to Bruce, who nods in a way that tells her she should just follow Karen’s advice, “Stay on your guard,” Bruce whispers when she turns around, just quietly enough for the advisor not to hear him. She exits the hall, leaving Bruce behind, and seeks out the aforementioned students of the Officer’s Academy.

She doesn’t get very far before two other people step in front of her and block her path. One of them, a woman, looks her up and down before sighing, “So you’re the new professor, right? Don’t take this the wrong way, but I had hoped it was your dad. Seems he’s joining the knights while you’re here to teach.”

The man next to her shakes his head, “please, do not pass judgement on our colleague so quickly. She was recommended by one of our own knights, and out students have already been speaking quite highly of her,” after berating the other professor, the man looks over to Barbara and extends his hand, “I am professor John Jones, a researcher and teacher at this academy. My colleague is professor Helena. Have you been assigned a house?”

“A house?” Barbara repeats clearly confused.

Helena rolls her eyes, “They really threw you into the deep end with this job, didn’t they? Well, I’ll help you out as best as I can. The Officers Academy takes in students from across Fódlan, however the classes are all divided into three houses, each taking in a student from the region they came from. The Black Eagles house takes in students from the Adrestian Empire, and their house leader is the Imperial princess, Donna Troy. The Blue Lions are led by prince Richard John Grayson, future king of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. The Golden deer house is for students from the Leicester Alliance, and they’re led by the grandson of the Duke, Roy William Harper.”

“It is a good year for you to join us,” John comments, “The only opportunity you may have to watch the future emperor, king and duke battling on the same field. If you have not been assigned a house, then we will let you speak to the students and give you the opportunity to pick one yourself. We will need your answer by the end of the day, however.”

Finally, the two walk away and let Barbara explore the place on her own.

That is, for the next five minutes before one of the students joins her and takes that freedom away, “I heard that you’re going to be a professor here after all,” the prince says, joining her walk through the monastery, “You haven’t been assigned a class yet, have you?”

“I thought listening in on conversations was considered rude,” Barbara replies without looking at him, “Does the kingdom not teach it’s future rulers’ correct manners?”

Richard chuckles and waves her off, “Oh, that they do. My uncle would never pass up an opportunity to berate me for using the wrong fork or speaking out of turn. The academy is different. Here, I’m just another student looking to excel at my classes.”

“Is that how you want me to treat you then?” Barbara asks him, stopping by the large gates which lead to some training grounds, where students were already sparring using wooden weapons, “I’m not from around these parts, and I’ve never had the chance to speak to royalty before… not that I ever intended to in the first place but the archbishop left me with little choice.”

Richard laughs again and shakes her head, “We don’t bite, and yes, please, just treat me like you would any other student. The formalities are just a waste of time for me… on that note, I realise I haven’t even introduced myself properly. My name is Richard John Grayson, although most of the other students have just started calling me Dick. You can too, if you’d like.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Dick,” she takes him up on the offer, “I’m Barbara Gordon, possibly your future professor, if it’s your class that I end up teaching.”

Dick smiles and motions to the training grounds with his hand, “well then, professor, care to join us for a sparring match? I should warn you, they can get very intense, even if we’re just using wooden weapons. The Blue Lions are very competitive, or most of us are anyway.”

Barbara hums in thought, considering her options. If she was meant to teach these guys, and choose which class she was meant to teach, then a bonding exercise like this could prove useful to her. Not to mention, learning about their skills earlier in order to help them improve may help in her teaching, “I won’t be joining you, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to watch.”

Dick shakes his head and offers for her to walk in first, “No, but… well, it’s probably going to lead to fiercer competition if we already have a teacher watching us. Maybe if you tell them this is graded, they’ll put even more effort in?”

“Before classes even start?” Barbara raise an eyebrow, “Tell them that if you think they’ll believe it. I won’t play along… but I won’t deny such a claim either.”

As soon as Barbara steps onto the training grounds the two girls that were fighting with swords stop, while another sets her bow to the side, and everyone turns their attention to her, “Is there someone new in the class I didn’t know about?” A red-headed guy asks, running over immediately to greet the two, “Your Highness is pretty quick to invite a girl over, huh?”

Dick shakes his head and sighs, “It’s not like that, Wally, and I told you not to call me that. She’s just here to watch us train, that’s all.”

“Oooh!” A blonde girl coos, joining the two of them as well, “Can’t hold back now then, can we? The more the merrier, I guess. I’m Bette by the way. What’s your name?”

“Barbara,” she introduces herself, “Please, don’t mind me, keep doing what you were going to like I didn’t join you.”

“Great,” A dark haired boy, one clearly younger than the rest of the group says from further away, “The more people to watch me kick Dick’s ass the better,” he points to the prince in question, “You haven’t forgotten our little bet, have you?”

A white-haired girl standing a few feet away from him rolls her eyes, “this might be one of your worse ideas, Tim,” she walks away from her training partner to go sit down by some steps, “Although, watching him kick your ass should be pretty entertaining.”

“Have some faith, Rose,” a dark haired girl says as she approaches the group, “Tim might be younger than us but there’s probably a good reason why the academy accepted him, and I don’t think nobility is the only factor.”

“You haven’t seen his highness on the battlefield yet,” a large, dark haired man speaks as he joins the girls, choosing to fold his arms and lean against one of the pillars, “you wouldn’t be underestimating him otherwise.”

The rest of the students, other than Tim, join the group on the stairs to watch the fight from there, “I don’t know, Vic, Tim might have some hidden talents we have yet to discover,” a blonde girl holding a training bow in her hands, “I’m putting my money on him.”

“Are we making bets now?” Wally asks her, “You know who my money’s on.”

“Ah yes,” a tall woman with red hair nods, “You are Richards greatest cheerleader after all.”

Dick himself goes to pick up a wooden lance and waves at the group, “Alright, alright, I didn’t think we’d have an audience for this, but I guess we have no choice now. Although, this is going to make holding back somewhat difficult.”

“What? No way,” Tim points his own lance at Dick, “I’m not looking to fight some random soldier. I want to experience your full power with my own eyes. Give me everything you got.”

Dick sighs and lifts his lance up, “We did all warn you,” with a shout, he runs at Tim, swinging his lance with his right hand, and while Tim manages to jump away from it, the force of the attack throws him a little off balance. He manages to regain his footing however and goes for the attack.

Tim swings his own lance from above, but Dick blocks it with his, shoving the younger fighter off him. He tries to swing at Tim once again, but part of it splinters off and hits Tim right in the chest. Dick looks down at his broken lance and sighs, “Wait,” Tim isn’t able to stop his movements, but Dick manages to grab his lance right before it hits, and keeps it in place, “I don’t think it’s entirely fair if my weapon broke…”

“You think your enemies will give you a chance to pick up another?” Tim asks him, pulling at the lance until Dick lets go, “Don’t tell me you’re giving up this easy?”

Dick picks up the other end of the lance and grins, “Oh, definitely not,” once more, Dick lunges at Tim and manages to swipe one end of the lance across his chest, sending him stumbling backwards, before turning and kicking him in the exact same place.

Tim’s sent flying across the training grounds, lance flying out of his hand when he finally hits the ground bellow him. He coughs a bit, propping himself up on his elbows before letting out a laugh, “Alright, that was dumb of me…”

Barbara hears the sound of coins being exchanged next to her, as the blonde archer rolls her eyes, “Come on, pay up Arty,” Wally says, extending his hand out to her.

The dark haired girl standing on the step above them sighs, “I guess we should’ve known this would happen when Tim told him not to hold back.”

Dick takes the broken lance into one hand, while reaching out for Tim with his other one, “Charging headfirst to an opponent you know is stronger than you isn’t a good idea. Your stance was good, but… well, you did ask me not to hold back.”

Tim gets up with Dicks help and rubs at his neck, “I’m gonna be bruised for the rest of the week, aren’t I? Still, doesn’t hurt as much as missing my dignity does.”

Rose gets off her seat on the steps and walks towards the two, “No, you fought well, but you should know better than to try to beat a Grayson in strength. It’s never gone well for anyone.”

“What’s special about him?” Barbara asks out of curiosity. Of course, she noticed all of his movements, and while it was clear he had some training and practice fighting in the past, it shouldn’t have done as much damage to the younger boy as he claimed it did. A kick like that doesn’t normally send a person flying across the training grounds.

Dick shows her the two pieces of the broken lance, “I’m the descendant of the hero Blaiddyd. Our house has always been blessed with immense strength… honestly, it’s not as fun as it sounds. I’ve already been banned from a few activities here that require a more delicate touch,” the bell from the monastery tolls, signalling the evening, “It’ll start getting dark soon, and I shouldn’t be keeping you from meeting the other students, but I’m happy we were able to show you this much of our class.”

Barbara nods at him and looks over the other students. It was a shame that in the end she could only watch Dick and Tim battle rather than seeing what everyone else was capable of, but this would have to do for now, “Yes, thank you very much for inviting me. It was definitely… insightful. I’ll see you all around then,” with a small wave, she leaves the students behind in the training grounds.

**_These children all seem very eager to please, perhaps coming here was no mistake after all._ **

The voice pops into her head once more and she presses a hand to it, closing her eyes. It proves to be a mistake, as when she expects to see darkness, what she finds instead is a little girl with long, flowing golden hair standing in front of her, looking her over.

**_You’re surprised to see me. You shouldn’t be. I saved our life after all._ **

“ _Our_ life?” Barbara whispers and reopens her eyes. No, this was a terrible place to do this, maybe her room was finally ready? She could speak to this… child, being, whatever it was, somewhere more private.

**_Ah, I see at least we agree on that. It’s hard to say where it is this place is… I suppose it’s easiest to say I am a being currently living in your heart. My name is Sothis, but that’s as much as I can tell you, as I know little myself. I saved you before, when you tried to save that princess but almost ended up with an axe in your back. It’s thanks to my power that you’re walking around here today. For now, however, I think you should rest. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! So I've been in this fandom since like... forever, but this is really the first piece of content I've created for it (not counting crossovers and a mcdonalds meme that got way too popular). Anyway, as I've said in the tags, I'm going to be taking a few liberties with the 3H plot later on and it won't be completely following the azure moon route although it'll be closest to that than any of the other routes. I also took some liberties with peoples ages so they’re not all the same as the YJ ones but still pretty similar


	2. Class is in Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barbara decides who she's going to teach and tries to learn more about them.

The chime of the church bell wakes Barbara, signalling the beginning of a new day. It takes her a little longer to recuperate than usual, not quite used to waking up in a room she can call ‘hers’. Well. It belonged to the academy and as a new professor she was given lodgings next to her students. It was the closest thing she could claim to be her room at least.

**_Good morning. Remember, you still have to speak with the archbishop before classes start. Perhaps lounging around is not the wisest idea._ **

Ah, Sothis. The entity in her head she keeps on forgetting about. It creates dissonance for her. On one hand, she feels like the being has always been with her, every step of the way, for as long as she could remember. On the other, the fact that her voice still surprised her every now and then wasn’t a great indicator.

**_Or you could ignore me and keep thinking about this. I have a feeling all your questions will be answered here… the place does feel familiar to me. Perhaps I will be able to learn something about myself on your new venture as well._ **

Tired of being berated, Barbara gets out of her bed and begins preparing for her day. Once she’s dressed and almost ready to leave, she picks up the journal lying on her desk and reads over it. First, there was a meeting with the archbishop, her aide and the two professors to discuss which house they should teach. After that, she was supposed to meet up with the house leader and go to class to introduce herself. A simple introductory day, so it shouldn’t be so hard, right?

She leaves her dorm room and notices that while the academy faculty and priests were walking around the monastery, not a student was to be seen anywhere. They still had some time before class, so it was highly likely they were either in the dining hall, or still sleeping away.

Barbara makes her way back to the hall she was supposed to meet Dinah, Karen, Helena and John, occasionally walking down the wrong hall in her attempt to find it, but eventually she’s standing in front of all of them once more, feeling all of their eyes on them. The only thing helping her now were the kind eyes the archbishop was watching her with, and the small smile on her face, “I hope you have been well. I understand these circumstances must be difficult for you to adjust to, however if you need anything, do not hesitate to ask.”

When Barbara shakes her head, her aide continues, “As you know, we would like you to teach one of the three houses at our academy. I’m not keen on having someone so… unfamiliar so close to our students, but I trust Dinah’s decision.”

“We’ve decided to let you choose first,” Helena offers, “John and I will take the other two houses. Although I have a feeling, I already know who you’re going to go for.”

“The Blue Lions,” Barbara decides ultimately, and it doesn’t seem to come as a surprise for anyone. They’re the only ones she ended up having time for in the end, and it was already uncomfortable enough teaching these guys, let alone if she were to stand up in front of a class full of students she’d never seen before.

“Excellent,” John replies, “I will teach the Black Eagles this year. My skills may be more suited to theirs, as yours are more suited to the Golden Deer, Helena.”

She agrees with him by nodding, “I was going to suggest that myself. Does that work for you, archbishop Dinah?”

“Of course,” the archbishop nods and motions to the door, “If that is all, then I would like to speak to our newest faculty member with Karen,” at her request, the other two professors leave, and when Barbara looks behind her to watch them leave through the doors, she finds all three lords poking their heads around to see what was happening just before they close again, “You have nothing to worry about here, professor. All we want to do today is get some formalities out of the way.”

Karen clears her throat before taking the lead, “In a couple of weeks’ time, as we do every year, there will be a mock battle between all three houses. This will tell us how far the students have come already, as well as letting us see if you’re as good as they say you are. Don’t disappoint us.”

“Cuz?” A woman’s voice asks, approaching the three of them, “I was looking through the books in the library and I found-,” she pauses when she notices Barbara standing in front of the two, “Oh… ah, I see you’re busy… I’ll just leave then.”

Karen shakes her head, “No, it’s alright, Kara, we’re done here anyway. Professor, this is my cousin, Kara. She came to the monastery with me, but she is not a student here. I would, however, appreciate it if you made sure she wasn’t getting into trouble from time to time.”

“I don’t need a babysitter!” Kara objects but Dinah shakes her head.

“We don’t think of you as a child here, Kara, but we are often concerned for you,” she looks back Barbara, “I apologise, I shouldn’t be keeping you here any longer, or Richard may become concerned. I believe I saw him just outside the hall. He will show you to the Blue Lions classroom if you haven’t found your way there yet.”

Barbara turns around and leaves, taking a book that one of the priests was holding out for her near the door- a teaching manual. She didn’t expect that she’d be the one getting homework so soon, “Thank you,” she says and walks outside, finding a very eager prince waiting on her, “Did the rest of your friends leave?”

“Donna and Roy?” He asks her and shakes his head, “They had to go back to their own class. Speaking of which, we should do the same. You were able to meet all of the Blue Lions yesterday, but they weren’t really able to meet you.”

“Hm, perhaps you could tell me more about them?” she asks him, holding the book at her side, “On our way to the classroom, I don’t want to keep them waiting too much longer.”

Dick nods and starts walking towards the stairs, leading them back downstairs as he speaks, “Hm, let’s see… I’ll start with Victor. He’s my vassal, or so he insists, although a lot of people disagree with that notion since he is from Duscur. Don’t listen to those people, he’s a kind man who I trust my life with, regardless of any misconceptions people have of him.”

“After that, there’s Rose. She’s an excellent swordswoman and aims to serve as my protector someday, specifically as captain of the king’s guard. She’s fierce on the battlefield, and to be honest, she’s fairly fierce around the monastery too. If you want an honest opinion, she can provide you with that.”

“Then we have Wally. Not many commoners make their way into the academy, but his speed impressed everyone here, as well as his competence with white magic… despite his insistence that he isn’t any good at it.”

“Next there’s Kory. As she is of Tamaran descent, many do not think she should be in Faerghus, let alone be the heir of House Anders. It's a shame, considering that I only had to spend a few minutes with her to know she's a ray of sunshine who means no harm to anyone here."

“You’ve already seen most that there is to Tim,” Dick continues as they cross through the gardens, “He’s a noble, but he’s always looking for a challenge. It’s a good trait to have, some of the time… but it does mean he expects more of himself than is possible for him to achieve.”

“Another noble is Zatanna. She’s from a family of powerful mages, and it’s clear she picked up the talent as well. She graduated with top marks from a famous sorcery school in Faerghus, so the academy had to accept her.”

“The last noble in the Blue Lions is Bette. Her uncle is Margrave Kane, however as her cousin has already rejected her noble title, she is next in line. That being said, she’s extremely eager to prove herself worthy of the role, occasionally going a little too far to prove her competence.”

“Finally, there’s Artemis. She excellent with a bow but that’s as much as I can tell you about her. No one really knows where she’s from or how she got in, and she hasn’t been eager to share that information even with me.”

They get to the doors of the class and stop, Dick waiting for Barbara to open the door, but she doesn’t move, “I don’t think that’s everyone. You haven’t told me anything about yourself.”

“Me?” Dick asks and shakes his head, “There’s nothing that interesting about me. My past isn’t really pleasant and as the future king of Faerghus I had to enroll at the academy. If you really want to hear more then I don’t mind sharing it with you, but maybe now isn’t a great time,” he reaches for the handle himself to end the conversation and opens up the door, “Please, after you, professor.”

As soon as she steps inside, the students all turn their heads to the door, and Wally’s the first to let out a groan, “Come on, man. You’re making us wait this long and you don’t even bring the professor with you? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to have another girl join us an all but-.”

Artemis cuts him off before he can make a bigger fool of himself, “Haven’t you considered that maybe that _is_ the professor?” she looks over to Barbara again, “I mean there’s no way Dick would just leave without them, right?”

Barbara nods and walks to the front of the class. She sets her manual down on the desk, and everyone slowly takes their seat, Wally getting off his desk, Bette and Rose making their way to the back of the class, Dick and Victor sitting up straight at the front with Tim and Artemis just across from them, “Yes, I’m your new professor for this year, but please… this is very new for me, and I’m not even sure I’m older than all of you, so there’s really no need for formalities.”

“You want us to treat you like a friend?” Zatanna asks and Kory gasps next to her.

“Are you quite sure that’s alright? I cannot imagine us treating our own professor like she is just one of us. Even if some of us are indeed older than you, I am unable to think of you as anything other than our instructor…”

“Why not?” Tim asks, “We were already treating her like one of us yesterday when we didn’t know she was the professor, and we already do the same with his Highness over there,” he says while pointing his thumb in Dick’s direction, “It wouldn’t be that much of a drastic change.”

Barbara lifts her hand up to calm them all down, “It’s alright, I understand if you’d rather call me your professor. What I meant by that is you don’t need to _worry_ about formalities. I won’t take offence if you treat me like you would the others, and I won’t take offence if you believe you need to be more respectful. I’m here to help you guys and train you. That being said, I’d like to spend today talking to you all individually and seeing what you already know and what you want to work on. Does that sound good?”

There’s a few positive murmurs and humming that comes from the class, so Barbara glances down and takes a look at her register, “We’ll be going to the training grounds for this, and I think it’s easiest if we do this by the register… uh… but I’m going to need your help getting there because I’m still not super familiar with the layout of the monastery.”

“We’ll be happy to show you!” Bette exclaims, jumping out of her seat and getting to Barbara first, “Maybe some of us can give you a tour this weekend, when we’re not busy preparing for the mock battle.”

The rest of the students follow behind then two women, Rose walking a little faster to discuss matters with their teacher, “About the mock battle, you do have a strategy planned out, don’t you?”

“In general, I have an idea about how I’d like us to proceed, yes,” Barbara tells her, “But it’s also why I need to know your strengths and weaknesses first. This battle is going to be led by the teachers, right?”

Rose nods, “Yes, the mock battle is just to see our physical strengths. The next interhouse battle will be the one that looks at how much we’ve improved since and how we are able to follow the instructions of our house leader.”

The classrooms aren’t too far from the training grounds, so it doesn’t take them a long time to file inside and sit down on the same steps as before. Barbara retrieves a wooden sword from the training weapons and looks at the first name on the list, “Kory, looks like you’re first up. Which weapon do you feel most comfortable with?”

“I am proficient with a sword,” she says, standing up and retrieving a wooden sword for herself, “I am a little familiar with dark magic, but I am not particularly skilled in it.”

Barbara shakes her head and hands her register over to Victor, “If you could please hold onto this and make sure no one alters anything on there,” he nods and she turns back to Kory, raising her sword in front of her, “Don’t worry, I just want to know where you stand. If you can, then please, use what you know. I want you to go all out on me, as if I am your greatest enemy.”

With that, Barbara charges forward and swings her sword down at Kory. Kory manages to block her attack with her own sword, taking a step back so she doesn’t lose her footing. When Barbara leaves herself open, Kory tries to slice at her side, but Barbara quickly sidesteps and attacks Kory from her left side. Kory stumbles a little, but she doesn’t fall, instead raising her left hand to shoot fire from it.

Barbara just barely manages to move out of the way, but lowers her sword, “Impressive, however, you seem to be going for the most obvious points. A lower level thug or someone inexperienced in combat will fall to those, but if you were to face off a knight, they’d probably anticipate such movements. There are also many ways you can try to incorporate your magic use into your sword technique. Overall, I think you’re a very capable fighter with some experience and room for improvement.”

Kory smiles and leaves her wooden sword on the rack, “Thank you very much,” she bows her head and returns to her spot on the stairs.

Barbara looks over to Victor, “Who’s next on the list?”

“Artemis, you’re up,” he says, looking in the girl’s direction. She stands up, makes her way over to the weapons rack and picks up a bow and a sheath of arrows.

“I’m an archer, I’m not sure melee combat is the best way for me to show you what I can do.”

Barbara agrees, sheathing the wooden sword into her empty holster at her hip, “I agree. Which is why I won’t have you trying to shoot me. That, and dodging a wooden sword is far easier than dodging arrows,” she slips her coat off and pulls out a small dagger, “Dick, I’ll need your help,” she asks him to come over and hands him the dagger and her coat, “We’ll use this as target practice for now. I can sew it up later. Please, hang it up on the pillar on the other side of this training ground.”

While Dick does as he’s told, lifting the coat a little before driving the dagger through it and into a space between two bricks in the pillar, Barbara leads Artemis across the training grounds, “Do you see the symbol on the back of my coat? I’d like you to shoot ten arrows consecutively and try to hit it.”

The rest of class goes in the same manner, with Barbara choosing the most appropriate way to test someone’s skills and engaging whenever she has to. In the end, she’s left wiping off a sweat off her forehead as the bell above them tolls, “That’s the end of class for today. I’m not an expert in the use of every weapon, but when possible, I’ll direct you to the right person to instruct you. If you have any questions, now or in the future, I will try to stay a while after class and attempt to answer them. I hope this method of teaching suits you.”

The class nods in unison, some more eager than others, “Class dismissed,” she announces, and the class slowly stands up, some occasionally groaning when they accidentally touch a bruise. They leave and go in their separate directions, and only two students remain, “Kory, Zatanna, what can I help you with?”

“We were hoping you could join us for dinner, professor,” Zatanna explains while Kory backs her up with a nod, “It’s not unusual for the students here to share a meal with their teachers or even with the knights.”

“We do not wish to take up your time if you have other activities planned,” Kory clarifies, “The other Blue Lions will be there as well, as will members of the other houses. It could prove to be quite interesting.”

Barbara looks down at her manual, then back to the girls. She was planning to grab something small from the kitchen and take it to her room where she’d start on the manual, but a bonding opportunity with her students wouldn’t be a bad waste of time either, and certainly more fun, “After all of that training, I thinks it’s best if I have a bath first, but I’ll be happy to join all of you as soon as I’m ready.”

“Perfect!” Zatanna exclaims, “oh, uh, we probably won’t all be sitting in the same places, but don’t feel pressured to join any particular group. We’ll just be happy to see you dining with us in the first place.”

The three walk out of the classroom together but quickly part ways when the two students go in the direction of the dining hall and Barbara walks back to her room. On the way, she passes by the training grounds again and takes a peek inside only to find Bette and Artemis in the middle of training.

“That didn’t take them long,” Wally says from behind her, almost making her jump, “I guess Bette didn’t feel so confident in her abilities.”

“What makes you say that?” Barbara asks, leaning away from the doors and turning to him, “Everyone today did a great job, but there are of course many things each one of you has to improve on.”

“Oh, I’m not denying that,” Wally says, putting his hands behind his head, “but we literally just finished up and she’s already training? And I know she pulled Artemis into this since she told me she was going to the library later. Well, she said she’d be going to the library because she knew I couldn’t bother her there but still….”

“I see,” Barbara says, putting her hand to her chin in thought, “I asked Dick to tell me about all of you beforehand, and he did mention that she can be a little over eager.”

“Oh?” Wally perks up, clearly more interested in that topic than discussing Bette’s issues with the professor, “What did he have to say about me?”

“Not much,” Barbara shrugs, “He said you don’t think you’re good with white magic.”

Wally shakes his head and sighs, “It’s more complicated. I just… well, I’ve never been a huge believer of the goddess. I wanted to study here because I know I have a chance of becoming a knight but I’ve honestly never been a devout believer. Kinda makes you doubt just how good you are at using something you don’t quite believe in. What about you, professor? Did the archbishop hire you based on your own beliefs?”

Barbara shakes her head, “I’m still not sure why she hired me, or why she thinks I can do this job at all but… I wasn’t even aware of the presence of the Church of Seiros until recently. I was born into the life of a mercenary. We rarely had the time to pray or preach.”

“Interesting,” Wally comments with a smile, “This is going to sound a little odd, but it’s pretty comforting to know that. Well, I’m sure you were busy doing your own thing, so I’ll leave you to it. See you at dinner, professor!” He starts running off in the direction of the dinning hall and waves her off.

Leaving the training grounds, she walks over to the dorms where she finds yet another one of her students leaning against one of the pillars, “Victor, is there something I can help you with?”

He shakes his head, “I should let you know your room is right next to mine,” he says, pointing behind him with his thumb, “The others said you needed someone to show you around. Don’t hesitate to knock on my door at any time of the night or day if you need any help.”

Barbara blinks a couple of times before answering, “Wow… that’s really some dedication. I can’t let myself bother you in the middle of the night, but I do appreciate the offer. I suppose there are a couple of questions I’d like to ask you at a later date. Would you be able to stay after class tomorrow?”

“Did I do something?” He raises an eyebrow, but Barbara quickly shakes her head.

“No, no, of course not. It’s about Dick, actually. I asked him about the class and but wouldn’t tell me much when it came to himself, and I fear if I press on it won’t amount to anything,” she quickly explains herself, “As his vassal, I’m sure you must know all about him. Would you be willing to share? Nothing too detailed or personal, don’t worry.”

Victor looks down at the ground, then back over to Barbara once he knows how to respond, “I should ask his Highness first. I agree that as our professor, you should know everything about us… but I don’t want to share something that his Highness doesn’t want outsiders to know.”

“That’s all I can ask,” Barbara reassures him as she fishes out her room key from her pocket, “If you can, let me know when class ends tomorrow, yes?”

Victor nods, and with a smile, Barbara walks into her room to gather up her things for a much-needed bath.

* * *

She walks to the dining hall with slightly damp hair from her bath, and as soon as she’s through the door, Kory’s already by her side, “Professor! I am happy you decided to join us! Will you sit with us for dinner? We would be most happy to have you.”

Barbara nods, running a hand through her knotted wet hair, “Yes, I would like that. I’m still unsure of where everything is really. Show me?”

“I would be delighted to!” Kory says cheerfully and leads her over to one of the cooks, “Could we have the special of today? I would like to make our new professor most welcome here,” the cook nods and turns away to make the dish while Kory leads her over to a table where Zatanna was already sitting with two other girls from a different class, “I have the professor with me.”

“Oh, you’re the new one, right?” One of the girls asks with a smile, “I’m Karen Beecher, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing a lot of each other since I’m in the Black Eagles house,” she looks over to her other friend who doesn’t make an effort to introduce herself, “She’s Rachel, another Black Eagle and vassal to Donna. Not exactly a chatty one though.”

“Hello,” Rachel bows her head gently and quietly returns to her meal. Karen shakes her head and points to Barbara with her fork.

“I heard you saved Donna, Dick and Roy in that village. Still can’t believe they let their guard down like that,” Karen says with a grin while Kory shakes her head.

“Richard informed us that they were all simply training while some bandits came along. The professor ran away and they were left to fend for themselves…” Kory looks down, “It is quite a relief that they had someone as skilled as our new professor and the knights to help them.”

“They would’ve handled themselves,” Zatanna shrugs, “they’ve all battled before this, I’m sure they knew what they were doing. One would think anyway. I’ve heard stories about the prince, but I haven’t heard much about what Roy and Donna were doing before they got to the academy.”

Karen shakes her head, “I can’t tell you much about Roy… or Donna really. She’s open about a lot of things, but her past isn’t one of them. Only Rachel knows anything about that, but she won’t say anything unless the princess allows it.”

Barbara tries to ask for more details, but she’s cut off when one of the cooks brings two dishes to the table, one for her and the other for Kory. Kory smiles widely and picks up her fork quickly, “Oh! This is my favourite dish. I did not know the cooks would have the right ingredients to make Tamaranian dishes.”

“Tamaran?” Barbara asks, recalling the name, “Isn’t that the island nation west of Faerghus?”

Koro smiles when she recognises the place, “I suppose Richard hasn’t told you everything about us. My mother was the princess of Tamaran before I was born, and we were being invaded by a nearby state. Tamaran was losing the fight, but my grandfather realised that if he married his daughter off to a noble from the Kingdom with a powerful enough army, they would have to come to our aid. I was born in Tamaran, and while my siblings still live there, I was taken to the Kingdom due to my crest. I am the only one who can continue the Anders bloodline and carry on the crest of Charon.”

“Crests are pretty big here, huh?” Barbara asks and the girls all nod.

“They’re considered a gift from the goddess to our ancestors,” Karen explains, “Parts of the Alliance are pretty big on it, usually you can’t be a noble in the Empire unless you have a crest and in the Kingdom you can even be disowned if you aren’t born with one. It’s a pretty ruthless system. I’m one of the lucky few who has noble parents who don’t care for that sort of thing.”

“And Dick supports it?” Babs asks Kory and Zatanna, and while Kory remains silent, Zatanna comes to his defence.

“He doesn’t, or at least, he agrees that it’s cruel for parents to abandon their crestless children. But he’s only prince right now, and even when he becomes king, it’ll be a while before he gets the support of the other houses to do anything about it. House Anders and House Drake have the biggest armies in the Kingdom, House Grayson wouldn’t stand a chance against those two, especially since House Kane would oppose them as well.”

Social change in the kingdom seemed like such a mess to Barbara. Would the houses really all turn on their ruler if he tried to even make suggestions? “But what about when all of you become leaders of your houses?”

Zatanna shrugs, “If that day comes, sure. Tim and Kory both hate the system, Bette isn’t so passionate about it that she’d go against Dick and while I understand the necessity of carrying on a bloodline and crests, I wouldn’t raise a civil war against him either. But that’s a long way down the road, and who knows how much we’ll change by then? Anyway, I’m tired of speaking about politics, I get enough of that back home. Why don’t we move onto something less serious?”


	3. Tragedy and Bloodshed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barbara tries to learn more about the prince from Victor while Dick attempts to convince Artemis that being a noble doesn't mean he's the devil. Barbara teaches Dick some gardening.

The next day Barbara makes sure to arrive early to class so she can get her bearings before the students come in and start asking their questions. She figured with the mock battle coming up so quickly, the best she could do was teach and discuss strategies with her students, and only after the battle, once she’s able to see how her students fair against the others would she individually teach them about wielding their weapons and battle manoeuvres. Even so, when she walks into the classroom, she already finds two of her students there, sitting in the front row and quietly discussing something.

They turn their heads when they hear the click of her boot against the stone floor. Dick smiles and waves at her but Rose makes no movement beyond staring at her, “Professor, you’re here early. Should we be worried about that?”

Barbara shakes her head, walking over to her desk and setting her books down, “no, no, I was hoping to gather my bearings before anyone arrived, but I see you’re both early birds.”

Dick shakes his head, “Actually, she’s the early bird-,” he says, pointing to Rose with his thumb, “I just had some unpleasant dreams and couldn’t get back to sleep once I woke up from them. The sun was rising so I decided to go to the dining hall which is where I found her.”

“I like to prepare for the day as early as possible,” Rose explains to them both, “but Dick, if you’re having trouble sleeping again maybe you could talk to Karen? The advisor must have something for sleep, I can’t imagine the Knights of Seiros are able to always sleep well without herbal aid.”

Dick smiles and shakes his head, “It’s alright, Rose. I appreciate the concern, but I’ve dealt with bad dreams before. I think class and training will keep me tired enough to not dream at all.”

“Have you had these kinds of nightmares for a long time now?” Barbara asks, walking around her desk, she leans against it and folds her arms.

“Around four years,” Dick answers, “but seriously, neither of you need to concern yourself with that. It’s just bad dreams, not reality.”

“With all due respect,” Rose begins, “as your sworn protector, I can’t just let you go through sleepless nights if it can be avoided. You’re already determined to fight alongside your knights, the least we can ask of you then is that you’re fully awake on the battlefield. Victor would agree with me on this.”

“We can go together,” Barbara offers, “I agree with Rose. I can’t let something happen to one of my students because fatigue was distracting them. We can speak to her this evening if you’re available? After dinner?”

Dick looks between Barbara and Rose, reading their expressions, until eventually he leans back with a sigh, “I don’t have a choice in this, do I? Fine, after dinner works. If it’ll set both of your minds at ease, as well as Victors, I’ll do it. And I suppose losing to some bandits from fatigue would be the most embarrassing way for a future leader to die in Faerghus’ history.”

“It _would_ be your pride that kills you in the end, wouldn't it?” Artemis asks as she walks in and takes a seat in the desk behind them, “I thought that the prince of Faerghus would have a little more self-care than that.”

“I live to serve my people, not myself,” Dick shrugs as he turns so he can include her in the conversation, “Artemis, you have a very negative view of nobles, right? Maybe one day I can help make you realise that we aren’t all hellspawns.”

“You’re not all inherently evil,” Artemis admits, “But you’re not entirely trustworthy either. And my low opinion of nobles doesn’t change my opinion of you not taking care of yourself properly. I can distinguish the two. I know you aren’t you father or your uncle.”

“Hmm,” Dick hums, “and how would you know what my father is like? Did you already have such a strong opinion of the nobility at 14? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to chastise you or anything, I’m genuinely curious.”

Artemis folds her arms and shrugs, “I just grew up quicker than other kids. Dick, I don’t hate you or any of the others for _being_ nobles. I couldn’t care less. I’m just here to learn and get the skills I need become a knight and feed myself. Besides, you don’t have to be a noble to be a qualified ass.”

“Good morning!” Wally declares as he walks into the class, Bette following him inside. He takes a seat next to Artemis while Bette sits across from Dick in the front desks.

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Artemis rolls her eyes, “Anyway, what are we going to do today, professor?”

Barbara walks over to the board and wipes off the previous lesson inscribed with a wet cloth. She picks up a piece of chalk and begins writing the topic on it, “Today I want to discuss strategy with you all. The mock battle is coming up and I want you all to succeed. I also read that you all have exams in two months, so I’m gonna have you all set a goal to work towards it. I’ll go into more detail when everyone else arrives.”

Slowly, just before the bell tolls, the rest of the class arrives in time for the lesson to start. When everyone’s settled down, Barbara walks behind her desk and picks up the notes she had taken of her students the night before, “The first thing I want everyone to do is tell me what exam you’ll be taking. I know each of you has an idea of what kind of soldier you want to become, so I’ll do what I can to point you in the right direction. For now you can only pass into one of four classes… I gather the weapons you chose to fight with are the ones you want to specialise with. So,” she walks over to Bette’s and Zatanna’s table, “Kory, I’d like you to come sit over here with Zatanna since you’ll both be taking the monk’s exam.”

Bette picks up her things and frees up the seat for Kory while Barbara walks behind them and looks over to Artemis, “I’d like you to sit next to Victor as you’ll be both taking the fighter’s exam,” Artemis does as she’s told and take Kory’s previous seat. She nudges Bette to take Artemis’ seat next to Wally, “Rose, I’d like you to switch places with Tim,” the girl stands up and sits at the back of the class while Tim takes her seat next to Dick, “Dick, Tim, Wally, Bette, the four of you are taking the soldiers exam, and Rose, I suspect you’ll be taking the myrmidon’s exam. I’m required to take it myself, so if you need a training partner for that I’ll be happy to indulge.”

Walking back over to her desk, she opens up her manual and skims over the curriculum. She raises her head when she turns around and finds Kory with her hand up, “Is there a problem?”

“This is not quite a problem… however I was wondering, would it still be possible for me to train my swords skills?” She asks, “I am quite weak with white magic, so I’d rather avoid having to use it in the future.”

Barbara shakes her head, “You don’t have to worry. I’m aware of what your strengths are, and I plan to have you use them to your full potential. The monk’s exam is just a steppingstone for you to reach your ultimate goal. Once you’re confident you’ll pass it, I do want you to focus on both black magic and on your sword skills. I will speak to everyone individually about their next exams once the first ones are over. Any more questions?” When no one raises their hand, Barbara begins the class.

* * *

“Professor?” Victor asks once class is over and everyone else has left, “You wanted to speak with me, didn’t you?”

Barbara nods as she wipes the board with the wet cloth, “Yes. So far everyone has been mostly open about who they are, I was even able to learn a few things about Artemis today, however Dick still remains a mystery to me,” she turns back around to pick up her books, “You’re his vassal, I suspect you might know quite a lot about him.”

“I do,” Victor agrees, “But His Highness asked that I leave the explanation to him, or rather, his involvement. Have you heard about the Tragedy of Duscur?”

“I haven’t no,” she walks out of the classroom, leading Victor over to the gardens behind the classrooms, “You’re from Duscur, aren’t you? Dick told me that some people hold that against you.”

“They do,” Victor confirms, “Four years ago, Duscur was a region in north west of Faerghus,” when Barbara motions for him to take a seat at one of the small tables in the gardens, he does so once she herself sits down, “It was annexed, and all those that opposed it were massacred by the Kingdom forces. His Highness was there, and he saved my life, insisted that my people weren’t to blame for what had happened. No one would listen to him, but he would not allow anyone to harm me either. I owe him my life, and that’s why I decided to become his vassal.”

Barbara nods along as she listens to the tale, taking mental notes of what she should ask Dick once he eventually decides to tell her the truth, “Four years ago? You would have both been children.”

“13 and 14, yes,” Victor agrees, looking down, “The kingdom didn’t discriminate on who they killed, or who they used to fight in their name. A lot of people lost their lives that day, and as future king, his highness vowed to never allow another tragedy like that to occur.”

“I see,” Barbara replies quietly, also looking down at her books. When she finds the right words, she finally looks up to meet his eyes looking at hers, “Why was Duscur annexed? There must have been something that incited it, right?”

“There was,” Victor nods, “But I’ll leave that to His Highness. Is that everything?”

Barbara looks him over, noticing his posture, ready to leave now that she was done with her questions, “That was everything I wanted to know that you could tell me… but that doesn’t mean I want you to leave. Do you like tea? I could make some for us, if you’d like.”

“I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”

“You’re a pleasure to speak with, not an inconvenience,” Barbara insists and she stands up, “Promise me that when I return you’ll still be here, and not making sure Dick is doing… whatever it is he’s supposed to be doing right now.”

“You’re the professor,” He replies, leaning back, “I guess I don’t have much of a choice now.”

* * *

“Is this seat taken?” Dick asks Artemis, plate full of food in hand, nodding at the empty seat next to Artemis. She looks up from the book she had been reading alongside her meal and finds that most of the other tables were already full.

She closes her book with a sigh and moves down the bench to make a little more space for him, “Were all the other nobles too engrossed with themselves to enjoy your company?”

Dick laughs, setting his plate down and taking a seat next to her, “The majority of them? Probably, but that’s not why I wanted to sit here. I just wanted to talk to a fellow classmate, is there any harm in that?”

“I thought that book might have tipped you off that I’d rather be doing something else,” she says, patting at a training guide for the many uses of various long-ranged weaponry, “Like not talking to you for instance.”

“My timing wasn’t the best, I get it,” Dick replies with a smile on his face, “If the idea of talking to me honestly repulses you that much, I can eat lunch with someone else, or alone if you really don’t want me having fun with anyone.”

“Real man of the people,” Artemis jokes in a deadpan, but Dick laughs nevertheless, “No, its fine. I guess… I was being harsh on you. There’s some people I despise here, the ones that look down on me because I didn’t get in here thanks to my bloodline, but you’re not one of those, and I shouldn’t have immediately thought you would be, prince or not.”

Dick raises and eyebrow and takes a little to respond while he chews his food and swallows, “You _are_ talking to the crown prince of a place called the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. If anything, I think something’s wrong with me that I’m already asking you all to call me by name. That’s what the nobility back in Fhirdiad thinks at least.”

“And are you going to listen to them?”

“I haven’t before,” Dick returns her grin, “What’s the point of being a leader if you can’t even treat your subjects with any respect? I guess that line of thought is probably why I’m definitely not the favourite among the other nobles.”

“Treating everyone equally?” Artemis asks, and nods along, “That’s definitely a controversial topic to say the least. Although the nice thing about being king is that you don’t always have to listen to every single subject, especially those with ill will towards you. Any respect you’ve gained through this conversation will be completely lost if you’re going to back down at the first opportunity.”

“Hmm,” Dick hums in thought and allows himself a longer pause while he eats some more of his dinner, “I don’t want to do that either, but I want to be open to criticism,” he rubs at his head, “This is giving me a headache… at least I don’t need to think about this for the next few years.”

“It might come sooner or later, maybe you should be prepared for that,” Artemis picks up her empty plate and book with a smile before leaving him alone at the table, groaning about his future.

* * *

Leaving the dining hall, Dick makes his way over to the staircase which leads to his dormitory, but he catches a glimpse of familiar red hair in the greenhouse and chooses to go there instead. He finds his teacher picking some flowers from the ground with one of the gardeners carefully watching from a distance, “Hello professor. I didn’t think you’d be interested in gardening.”

“Oh, I enjoy it,” she smiles, standing up straight, “It’s a new hobby for me. Living as a mercenary didn’t exactly allow you to live in one place for prolonged periods, let alone grow a garden. What about you?”

“Me?” Dick asks and shakes his head, “It’s a bit too slow and dull for me, I’d rather just spend my free time training if I’m being honest. Although, speaking of mercenaries, where’s Bruce? I haven’t seen him since the two of you arrived.”

“Probably off on some mission,” Barbara shrugs, “I don’t pry into his business and he doesn’t pry into mine.”

“Oh?” Dick asks with a grin, “That’s not very father-like. How I understand it, a lot of fathers always check up on their daughters and make sure they’re not doing anything improper, or something that would endanger them.”

“Is your father like that?”

“Um…” Dick looks away, “He used to be, when he was around. Although if anything he was more worried I might hurt someone I wasn’t supposed to with the lack of control I had over my own strength.”

Oh.

Well now Barbara felt terrible.

This was exactly why she needed to know about her students, to avoid stupid mistakes like these, “What happened? If you’re willing to speak about it, that is.”

“I thought you might ask about that,” Dick says. He crouches down next to the flowers and Barbara follows him. There, she keeps on picking the flowers and cutting the necessary branches while Dick tries to help her out, “Victor already told you about the Tragedy. My father, stepmother and a few other nobles as well as the guards were all assassinated while on a diplomatic trip to Duscur. I was the sole survivor, and the Kingdom believed it was the people of Duscur who caused the whole thing, so they attacked, regardless of what I said or how I felt.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Barbara shakes her head and offers a pat on his shoulder, “That must have been a traumatic experience for you.”

“I didn’t take it well, no,” Dick agrees, focussing on the flowers in front of them, “To this day I’m occasionally haunted by my father’s dying words in my nightmares. I don’t think I’ve fully healed, nor am I necessarily close to that, but I try not to let it get in the way of my work. It won’t be an issue in the classroom, I can promise you that much.”

Barbara shakes her head and looks to him, waiting for him to turn his head as well. When he’s eventually forced to comply by her silence, she speaks up again, “I’m your professor, Dick. If there’s anything you ever need, be it guidance or an ear or even a shoulder to cry on, don’t hesitate to come find me. Can I trust that you’ll do that?”

“I…” He trails off with his mouth, looking away briefly before looking at Barbara again, closing his mouth and nodding.

“Good,” she looks to the flowers then back over to Dick, “Thank you for helping me with these. I promise the work we do tomorrow won’t be as slow and dull as this, alright?”

“I’ll take your word on it.”

* * *

“You’re free right now, aren’t you?” Bruce asks her two weeks later when he finds her reading a book in the reception hall, “Tomorrow is the mock battle,” he sits down on the bench across from her, “How do you feel about it?”

“I haven’t had long to teach them, but I’m confident in my skills and theirs,” she replies, closing the book, “Some of them already have experience in battle, which definitely helps, but that could be said for the other houses as well.”

“You seem to be getting friendly with them already from what I hear,” he tells her and immediately picks up on her first worry, “I’m not saying you shouldn’t, but it’ll be that much harder on you if anything happens to them. They’re not just your friends, they’re your responsibility.”

“Do you doubt me?”

Bruce shakes his head, face as always devoid of emotion, “No. I’m simply telling you to be careful with how you spend your free time. Oh, and considering you’re teaching those brats from the kingdom, you deserve to find this out from me before anyone else realises; A few years ago I was out on a mission near Fhirdiad. Long story short, I stayed there longer than I would’ve liked. Don’t let His Highness know that you didn’t know that already.”

Barbara raises an eyebrow, surprised at his honesty rather than the request. She remembered when a few years back her mentor wrote to her explaining that the mission was taking far longer than he expected and following that she didn’t see him for the next year. She never questioned his disappearance, nor did she think he would answer her even if she tried. Maybe he just wanted to make sure their bond appeared to be a lot closer than it truly was, “You don’t trust him?”

“I don’t trust any of the nobles here, least of all the lords. Most of them are harmless, but those three are clearly hiding secrets under secrets. I’d look out for them if I were you.”

“Dick already told me about the Tragedy,” she informs Bruce, “I think if there’s anything else left to tell me, he’ll say it, sooner or later. You already told me not to trust the church, I don’t want to live in a world where the only one I think I can trust is myself,” she stands up and picks up her book, “But thank you for the warning,” she says with slight bitterness then tries to correct herself, “I mean it. I don’t want to doubt them, but if you want to investigate every single one of my students, I won’t stop you.”

* * *

Having agreed to meet up with her students in the training grounds before the battle, she walks in only to find all three of the lords chatting with none of her other students around. As soon as they notice her, Roy waves at her while the other two smile, “Professor! You’re here to strategize with Dick, aren’t you?” Roy asks her, “You don’t have to mind us, we’ll happily listen in.”

Dick rolls his eyes, “Oh please, you’re naïve if you think I’d give up our real strategy right in front of you. It’s pathetic that you think you can only win if you know where the enemy is coming from.”

“He’s right,” Donna agree, folding her arms, “Although it’s fruitless as the Black Eagles will destroy you all regardless of what your strategy may be.”

“You’re feeling very confident about this mock battle,” Dick raises an eyebrow before shaking his head, “But… we shouldn’t get too carried away, this isn’t a real fight.”

“That weak will of yours will eventually be your downfall, Grayson. I hope you don't feel the same way about your other oponents,” Donna berates him before walking past Barbara, “Make sure he doesn’t go too far out there,” she whispers and leaves, Roy following after her.

“You seem confident in our victory,” she says to Dick once the two of them are out of earshot, “Are you that certain in everyone’s skills?”

Dick briefly looks over to the door to the training grounds before looking at Barbara, “I’m not, I mean… they have talent but most of them haven’t ever been on a battlefield before. What I am confident in are your leadership skills. Back in that village, you didn’t hesitate to tell us what we were supposed to be doing and where we were supposed to be going. In all honesty, I can’t be entirely sure I’d be here today if it weren’t for you aiding us in that battle.”

Barbara smiles at the compliment, but waves it off regardless, “They were just some low-life bandits, I’m sure you would’ve handled yourself just fine without me.”

“But not without injury, maybe,” he points out, just before looking up as the rest of the class comes through, “I guess this mock battle will serve to prove which one of us is right then.”

“You’re making it sound like a bet.”

“Then why not make it one?” Dick asks with a smile, “If we win, it’ll be because you led us well. We can be certain of this since the other two houses are starting on the same level as the rest of us, some students already having some experience and some only having their first fight today. So, if the Blue Lions win… hm…” he pats his index finger against his chin in thought, “Oh, tomorrow you’ll have to dine with me and tell me about stories from your mercenary life, fighting alongside the Blade Breaker.”

“You want me to gush about Bruce as a reward?” Dick nods enthusiastically, resulting in Barbara sighing, “And how will you be sure I won’t use this opportunity to gain something from you by intentionally forcing us to lose?”

Dick shakes his head, “I know you won’t, your mercenary pride won’t allow it… there’s that, and Karen has a close eye on you and she’s using this to assess your skills. I don’t think you’d want to disappoint Bruce by getting kicked out for incompetence only two weeks in.”

There he had a point. She guessed Karen must have been that obvious about her dislike of the idea of her being the new professor, and while proving her wrong was certainly one thing Barbara was looking forward to, she didn’t want to disappoint Bruce either and leave him alone in a place he despised so much. Alternatively, Dick already impressed her earlier with his deductive skills, maybe it’s just something he figured out without overhearing anyone’s conversation.

“And if we lose?” Barbara asks and leaves the question hanging in the air while Dick waits for her to come up with her own reward, “Over the next week, each day after class you’ll come with me to help weed out the greenhouse and cultivate the fruits and vegetables.”

Dick extends his hand toward her, “If you’re there, maybe it won’t be so awful. I’m in.”

She takes his hand into her own and shakes it, expecting the firm grip to be a lot stronger than she expected. She smiles, and looks to the other students that had gathered closer to the door, “Shall we, Your Highness?”

“After you, professor.”


	4. Three Houses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone wins the bet, Rose shouts at Wally and Roy sticks his nose where it doesn't belong.

They arrive at the battlefield at noon, quickly finding out their position in comparison to the otherwise was the least strategic, “We’re out in the open like this?” Bette asks when they first arrive, “This seems unfair, the Golden Deer even get a barricade, the Black Eagles get some trees… and we’re left standing here like some idiots.”

It wasn’t ideal, that Barbara could agree on, but she steps forward and takes the lead, “The Golden Deer as I understand it specialise in long range weaponry, and the Black Eagle house has a few talented magic users in their midst.”

Dick takes a few steps closer to Barbara, standing just behind her with regards to the battlefield in front of them, “The Kingdom is known to be a force to be reckoned with, if anyone had to be given this disadvantage, it makes sense for it to be us.”

“What do you suggest we do then?” Tim asks, he himself unsure of where he should stand.

“Tim, Victor, Dick, Wally and Bette, the five of you will be our first line of defence,” she suggests, walking back and making space for the others while they shuffle around and get into position, “Kory, Rose and I will be right behind you, providing support where necessary. Artemis, as our archer you’ll be in the back, and we’ll make sure the enemy doesn’t approach you. Zatanna, I will need you to be ready to heal anyone who needs it.”

“Shall we split between the houses?” Kory asks but Barbara shakes her head.

“No, I think it could be possible but it’s best to try and defeat one house after the other. First, we’ll target the Golden Deer, they won’t have enough time to prepare their weapons and they may end up targeting us quicker than we’d like if we don’t act quickly. With them gone, we heal and attack what will be remaining of the Black Eagle house.”

Rose puts a hand on her hip, “Ruthless strategy, professor. I like it. We’ll proceed on your mark since you’re our leader for today.”

“Very well,” Barbara replies, pulling out and readying her sword. The rest of the class follows her, turning around to face the enemy, “Frontline, advance!”

On her signal, Victor, Dick, Tim, Bette and Wally run forwards, running around the Golden Deer barricade. The first ones standing in their way are two of the younger members of the house, Bart and Cissie, one pointing a lance at them while the other tries to shoot arrows. She misses her first one, trying to hit Wally, but hits when she targets Tim, getting him in his left arm. He shouts when the blunted arrow hits his arm and bruises him, so Victor runs in to take his place, lunging at Cissie with the wooden axe, hitting her in her chest.

“Cissie is out!” Bruce shouts across the field, watching and judging fight from further away. The girl groans and walks away from the battle, trying not to get in the way of the others as the battle wages on.

Wally runs ahead and faces Bart, swinging his lance once but missing him. Bart swings low, hitting his legs which causes Wally to fall over, just barely being able to hold onto his lance. Bart tries to stab down at him, but Dick quickly jumps in and knocks his lance back before it hits Wally.

In the meantime, Rose, Barbara and Kory run forward, with Kory running in a little faster and thrusting her sword at Bart. She hits him in the stomach, and he falls down, “Bart is out!” Bruce shouts again and the Blue Lions cheer.

“Good job everyone,” Barbara smiles, “That’s two Golden Deer, and it sounds like the Black Eagles still haven’t made a move yet, not a successful one anyway. We should be wary of the others as well; I haven’t seen Roy yet and I’m sure he’s sneaking around somewhere in the trees.”

Ending their short-lived victory is a fireball that emerges from the trees and hits Wally as soon as he’s up, sending him flying back. In retaliation, Artemis runs in and shoots an arrow in the direction the arrow came from, but it doesn’t seem to hit anyone, “Wally has only one more hit left, what should we do?”

“Zatanna, heal,” Barbara commands, “Rose, Kory, Tim, Zatanna, the four of you figure out what’s going on there. The rest of us are going to go ahead and deal with the rest of the Golden Deer. As soon as you’re done, get to us as quickly as possible.”

“Garfield is out!” Bruce announces, signalling the downfall of another Golden Deer. The Black Eagles must’ve been making their move on them already.

Zatanna follows through her orders and helps Wally back up, healing him up before running towards the trees with the other three. The rest of the group goes in the other direction, running towards Conner and Virgil up ahead while they prepare for the attack.

Artemis shoots out two arrows in their direction and both manage to hit Conner- one in the leg and the other in the arm, not enough for him to be considered dead. Bette charges ahead, lance in hand and swipes at Virgil’s side. She’s too quick and he barely has a chance to recover as she gets his side and he falls over.

She quickly changes her grip on her lance and puts afoot on his chest, pointing the end of the wooden lance at his throat, “Yield!” She says and he puts his hands up.

“Alright, alright! You win!” He says and she moves off him. Forgetting temporarily about his partner, she doesn’t turn around quick enough to feel Conner’s wooden axe hit her back.

“Virgil and Bette are out!” Bruce announces and Bette groans loudly.

“Ugh! I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming!”

Victor avenges her quickly, throwing his wooden hand axe at Conner and getting him in the back of the head. The Golden Deer shouts out in pain and rubs the back of his neck, “Was that really necessary?!”

“Conner is out!”

Dick laughs, walking over to Victor’s side, “Oh please, I’m sure that hurt your pride more than your neck. Give it up.”

Passing by him, Conner makes sure to catch Dick’s shoulder with his own, grunting as he walks away. Dick just rolls his eyes and shakes his head, “If this were a real battle then he would be dead too. I’m starting to feel like the Golden Deer aren’t taking this as seriously as they should be. There’s only three of them left, right?” He asks Barbara but his question is answered quickly.

“Kaldur is out!”

“It’s still three,” Barbara corrects him, “Roy and Violet are left of the students, but we can’t forget about Professor Helena either. Although Violet is a magic user, isn’t she?”

Artemis nods, readying another arrow, “She uses black magic, yes. The fireball must have been hers. Kaldur is good too, but he prefers using weapons wherever he can. Putting them together isn't a bad idea for the Golden Deer.”

“Brion is out!”

Wally raises an eyebrow, “Since when do you know so much about them?”

Artemis rolls her eyes, “I actually spend time on the training grounds, and they’re not Blue Lions exclusive. I’ve seen some of them fight before, those that show up to training anyway. But that’s mostly Golden Deer. The Black Eagles tend to be a lot more secretive about their fighting style, so I only know what Brion, Megan and Donna do. Everyone else is a total mystery for me.”

“Zatanna is out!”

“Damn,” Barbara curses under her breath, “Let’s wait for them to finish up. Artemis, keep an eye out for incoming enemies. We’ll need to consider our strategy since so far the Black Eagles only lost one member.”

“Karen will most likely be using a lance,” Victor provides.

“I’ve seen Rachel use dark magic,” Dick adds, “I doubt that Donna won’t be making use of that. Her range is pretty good too. I’d say her and Donna will be our greatest challenge.”

“Megan is good with black magic,” Artemis keeps adding, “And we all know Donna will be using an axe. Leaving Mal, Jaime, Cassie and Garth as total mysteries.”

“Violet is out!”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Barbara insists, seeing the rest of their team finally emerging from the trees, “For now let’s focus our efforts on Roy and Professor Helena, I’m sure they won’t be holding anything back. Dick, you’ve fought alongside Roy before, I’d like you and Wally to deal with him, Zatanna and Victor will back you up. I will fight the professor with Kory and Roses help. If there’s any Black Eagles around, I’ll need the rest of you to fend them off. I don’t want us getting attacked from two sides.”

Dick raises his lance and points it in Roy’s direction, “For victory!”

He charges ahead, Wally, Victor and Zatanna following quickly, and when Barbara looks to the rest of her group, she only finds everyone staring at her, waiting for an explanation. She sighs and lowers her sword, “There’s a bet going on between us… I’ll explain after the battle is over. For now, I’d appreciate if my _students_ do as I say and help me defeat our enemies?”

“As you wish,” Rose runs ahead, although at the last second Barbara manages to catch her smirk.

* * *

At the front of the group walking back to Garreg Mach are the cheerful Blue Lions, exhausted from the battle but smiles rarely dropping from their expressions, even Rose, Artemis and Victor unable to contain their small but meaningful grins thanks to their victories. Despite having lost early on, Bette and Zatanna stay in high spirits, but surprising everyone, Barbara stays the most solemn out of them all.

“You’re not upset I won, are you?” Dick asks, walking behind the group to stay in step with her, “It was mostly a joke, so if you don’t want to have dinner then I don’t mind cancelling our plans.”

Barbara raises her eyebrow, then shakes her head, “What makes you say I’m disappointed in the outcome? Even if I lost the bet, we still won the battle and I was able to prove that I am capable. I’m very happy about this actually.”

“Oh…” Dick trails off and looks away from her, “I suppose we all have our own ways of showing our happiness over a victory, even when they’re quiet. Hmm… I’m surprised actually, I’m usually good at reading people but you’re proving to be quite challenging.”

Barbara does laugh at that and shakes her head, “You’re not the first to say that. Bruce is the best person I know when it comes to predicting peoples actions and reading their thoughts, but he’s struggled with me quite a few times. It’s weird coming from him of all people, but he thinks I have a problem with expressing myself. As a child I never laughed or cried… it unnerved him.”

“A child without emotions? I can imagine that being quite worrying,” Dick looks back towards her and winks, “I’ll just have to learn how to read you from scratch, professor. How about we start right now? We’re all planning on a feast to celebrate our early success. Will you join us?”

She’s had dinners and lunch with her students before, but it was never anything special, just small invitations to little gatherings to pass the time. She’s a teacher, she shouldn’t be getting this involved with her students, even if half of them were older than her, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that it’s the best idea. You should all be enjoying each other’s company, not mine.”

“No way!” Wally shouts, overhearing the conversation and turning around while still walking in the direction of the monastery, “We can’t have a party without the key to our success!”

“For once, I agree with him,” Artemis comments while walking alongside him, “It would feel… empty, almost pointless even without you.”

“Yes!” Kory exclaims, running in and getting between Dick and Barbara. She grabs them both by the arm and pulls them closer, “It would not be the same without you! You simply must join us!”

Zatanna laughs, looking back and watching the scene unfold, “I don’t think she’s giving you much of a choice, professor.”

“None of us are,” Bette shakes her head, “We’ll just lock her out of her dorm if she refuses to join us. Have Dick and Victor stand guard so she can’t even try and break the door down.”

“We’ll tie you to the bench if we have to,” Rose adds with a smirk, “Will you cooperate and join us?”

“Why is this starting to sound like a hostage situation?” Tim asks; however no one seems to answer him, stopping in their tracks when Barbara does and expectantly looking at her.

Watching the others invading her, she expects to feel endangered, like she has to run away or reach for her blade… and yet, all she feels is warmth from their invitation and eagerness to have her join them. It’s not unwelcome, but certainly unfamiliar, “I’d like to at least have a bath first… but if you all insist, I’ll have to accept.”

Cheering once more, the Blue Lions march towards the monastery. The shouting soon devolves into chanting, songs that Barbara doesn’t quite recognise but soon gets the hang of, with Wally and Bette taking the lead, hoisting their wooden weapons high into the air.

* * *

The first to greet them at the gates is the archbishop, smiling kindly to the victors and congratulating them on their success, “You’ve done well to show your proficiency in your skills and your leadership,” she says to Barbara and Dick, only to look at the former, “I’m certain you’d like to celebrate with your students, but there is a matter I wish to discuss with you. Will you forgive me stealing her away, Your Highness?”

Dick chuckles and shakes his head, “Not at all. We’ll be waiting in the dining hall.”

The Blue Lions all walk away in a single group in the direction of the dinning hall while Dinah leads Barbara upstairs to the throne room located above the reception hall. Once the doors are closed behind them, Dinah turns to her with a smile, “I see you’re settling in quite well if your win is anything to go by. How are you finding the students? They aren't proving to be too troublesome, are they?”

“They’re… interesting,” Barbara replies, choosing her words carefully, “But they’re all dedicated to their training. They all have different motivations, some more noble, some more secret than others but they don’t slack off.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Dinah nods once, “Now with the mock battle over, I should inform you of how classes work. Once a month each class is given a mission they will work towards. This is to help the students face the realities of battle before they graduate. Karen will give you the details of your mission next month in due time. If you have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to speak with either of us.”

“I won’t,” Barbara nods back, “I am wondering… the students, they insist I join them on their every day activities like having lunch or dinner with them, assisting them in their training outside of classes, gardening, fishing… it’s not against the rules of the monastery to do such a thing, is it?”

“Are there any students you’re favouring over others?”

Barbara shakes her head, “No, I try to talk to know and speak with them all equally… although I suppose I’ve been discussing matters with His Highness more so than anyone else.”

“It’s only natural,” Dinah reassures her, “He is the leader of the Blue Lions this year. He is the one who should be receiving information regarding them first after yourself. As long as you believe they are all ready for the coming battles ahead of them, there should be no problem with you spending your free time with your students. If that is all, then you are free to re-join them.”

* * *

**_That was quite the feast. It seems you have enjoyed yourself as well. But do not forget yourself- you are training them so they may eventually become soldiers for their Kingdom._ **

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Barbara whispers on her way back to her dorm, taking it slow from just how full she was feeling. It had been some time since she’d heard from the girl in her head and she has to stop herself from showing the surprise on her face out in public from hearing a voice that wasn’t her own in her head.

**_It means you should be careful about who you get attached to. The last king was murdered, what would you if one day you were to discover that Dick had met the same fate? You are the one giving them guidance. Are you sure you could forgive yourself if they were to die on the battlefield?_ **

“Then I will be careful to teach them how not to get killed,” Barbara insists to the girl, “If I neglect my duties I will always wonder if there wasn’t something more I could do. The best I can hope for is that they follow my teachings.”

**_I suppose Dinah has put you in an inescapable predicament. I believe your course of action is still the wisest, but as someone who shares body and mind with you, I would hate for us to witness such an unfortunate event. Regardless, I would like to ask you a favour._ **

“Go on.”

**_There is a crest scholar in this academy, Professor John. If he is the expert on all things supernatural then perhaps he may be able to help us. I do not want you to state that I am living inside of you rather if you could stay subtle then we may get our answer._ **

“I’ll see what I can do. We have the day off tomorrow and I’m only meeting with Dick for dinner. We should have enough time to speak to the professor.”

**_That is all I ask._ **

* * *

“There you are!” Rose exclaims the next day when she finds a completely unaware Wally eating breakfast in the dining hall. She storms over, grabs him by the arm and pulls him outside while he cries out over his unfinished breakfast. She let’s go when they’re outside and no longer surrounded by other students, “Are you aware you have neighbours? Ones with very thin walls might I add?”

Wally scratches his head, “I have no idea what you’re talking about Rose. Wait, isn’t your dorm room supposed to be next to Dicks anyway? He lives upstairs, right?”

“Yes, where all the other nobility lives,” she folds her arms, “they wouldn’t allow him to sleep on the first floor and we knew the other nobles would be upset if commoners like Victor and I moved next to them. So no, I have the unfortunate circumstance of having my bed right against the same wall that connects to your dorm.”

“And that’s bad because…?” Wally asks, clearly still uncertain of what she was trying to get at.

Rose shakes her head, “In order to protect His Highness, I must always be in top shape. That means I have to get up early every day and train vigorously before class, which also includes time for bathing and eating. But I can’t get enough sleep with you and your nightly activity making so much noise!”

Wally groans loudly, “Seriously? That’s your complaint? I can’t exactly go and do that anywhere else. What I do in my room is my business… and whoever I happening to be doing that business with at the time.”

“It becomes my business when every second of my sleep is disturbed by your mistresses moaning and groaning,” Rose tries to explain, irritated tone barely hidden behind her usual cool demeanour, “It may come as a surprise, but I don’t care what you choose to do with who and how many people you chose to indulge in your nightly activities, but I do care when it’s keeping me awake.”

“You know,” Wally says, his concerned look disappearing and instead being replaced by a grin, “Maybe it’s not such a bad thing… you’re really not going to be able to protect him if you’re constantly stressed and moved by something this small. You should loosen up a bit.”

“Excuse me?” Rose asks, her hand slowly reaching to the sword at her side, “Are you seriously trying to proposition me? Right now of all times?”

“No!” Wally raises his arms up defensively, “No, you scare me way too much for me to try that… in the best way possible. What I meant was, being on high alert all the time won’t do you any good either.”

“Is… is this your way of telling me to _smile more_?” Rose narrows her eyes at him.

“Y-yes…?” She narrows her eyes further, fist clenching, “No! No! Okay not like that,” Wally waves his hands around in front of her, “I am terrible with words today. Look, we’re students here, right? There are knights on guard all the time and we’re far from any squabbles the Empire, Kingdom and Alliance might have between one another. Take this opportunity to relax a little. Maybe you’ll learn a valuable lesson.”

Thinking over his words, Rose moves her hands away from her sword and visibly relaxes, at least enough for Wally not to think she’s immediately going to kill him, “I disagree. However, if you keep the noise down, I’ll be more likely to take your words into consideration.”

“Well, I guess that’s better than being found dead in the morning with your sword through my chest.”

* * *

“You wish to know more about crests?” John asks without looking up from the letter he was writing at his desk in his study. On the same floor as the throne room, Barbara stands in the scholar’s office, a room with bookshelves crammed with books against the walls, research papers overflowing the desk and a strange, round device embedded in the floor in the middle of the room, “I was observing your power as you were fighting Donna, and there is a theory I would like to put to the test. If you allow me to see what crest you might have, I will be content to share what I know with you.”

Checking her for a crest seemed redundant to Barbara. As far as she knew, only the nobility of Fodlan carried crests, or at the very least highly respected individuals. She was neither, barely being shown any respect now that she was a professor but more so than she ever had before. Not that it ever bothered her, but she knew now how those with crests were treated, “I have no problems with this, but I’m certain you will be disappointed. I wasn’t born a noble or a lord, the chances of me having inherited a crest from anywhere are slim.”

“But not impossible,” John insists, ending his letter and standing up. He extends his hand out towards Barbara, “If I may take your hand for a second. This will not be painful, but it does require for you to stand still until it is complete,” when she offers him her hand, he takes her wrist and gently pulls her over to the device on the ground. Barbara lets him move her hand around as he pleases, until he’s satisfied with her position. He steps away and activates the machine.

A projection appears above her hand a few seconds later, and the scholar is left humming, stroking his chin, “Fascinating… In all my years of researching, I have never come across such a crest before… perhaps it is a combination…? Or perhaps it is a crest that has been lost to history…” he looks to her from the projection as soon as she moves her hand away and the projection disappears, “My apologies, I will have to think on the matter at another time. You wished to know about crests?”

Barbara nods, so he pulls up a chair to the other side of his desk for Barbara and motions for her to sit down. He walks around the desk and sits back down in his own chair, “Almost 1200 years ago, near the founding of the Adrestian Empire, there was a large war over the fate of Fodlan between Saint Seiros and the King of Liberation, Nemesis. Alongside the saints were ten heroes who fought valiantly and helped defeat the mad king. To aid in their efforts, the Goddess granted each one of the four saints and the ten heroes powers- crests to be more specific, to ward him off. Once the war was over, the heroes were each granted territory across Fodlan. These powers were hereditary, so it came as no surprise that whoever awoke to these powers became the next leader of their faction. To the best of our knowledge, twenty crests exist in total.”

“The Empire doesn’t cover all of Fodlan anymore…” Barbara says in a quiet tone, “Did the heroes have a disagreement?”

John shakes his head, “That is a history lesson for another day, a lesson from another time. In short, prince Richards ancestor fought for the independence of his nation and became the king of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. As for the Leicester Alliance, the history there is too complicated to give such a gross oversimplification. However, I am surprised to hear you did not know any of this before. Were you not born here?”

“I was born in Fodlan,” Barbara confirms, “But I spent most of my life as a mercenary. Bruce taught me how to read and write and count and how to wield a weapon, but little beyond that. Knowing about nobility or the history of Fodlan or the Church wasn’t a priority for him I suppose.”

“I see,” John replies, rubbing at his chin, “It’s best that you do not inform Dinah of that, she will be most disappointed to hear it. I hope this has cleared up some things for you.”

“I have another question…” Barbara trails off before trying to figure out how to phrase it, “Do crests have side effects? Hearing voices or occasional dizzy spells?”

“In most cases, crests only truly activate in the midst of combat, perhaps due to the rush of it all,” John explains, “However there are instances where crests have done more than simply aid someone in a battle. The Blaiddyd bloodline is the most notorious example, each member of the royal family that bore the crest was known to have incredible strength they struggled to control at times. Some crests are said to have healing properties for it's bearer, such as Zatanna’s crest of Lamine… I have heard of one that brings bad luck, although it was only in rumours. Beyond that, I have rarely heard of crests producing side effects such as those. Are you experiencing these yourself?”

Barbara quickly shakes her head, “No, not at all… but if I ever do on the battlefield then I’d like to know if I can attribute it to my power or if something else is at play,” she stands up and bows her head, “Thank you, professor John. That was very insightful.”

“If you’d like to know more about the history of Fodlan, I believe one of your students may be more helpful,” John tells her, “I believe young Tim is quite the history buff, certainly in regards to the history of the Kingdom but he is also well versed in the history of Fodlan and its vassal states.”

* * *

“Professor!” Dick waves over from his empty table where he’s already taken care of her dinner and brought it to the table, “I heard you spent this morning with Professor John. Has he shared anything interesting with you?”

“He can’t identify my crest,” Barbara lets slip very easily, sitting down across from him, “Oh… I’m not sure he wanted me to tell you that.”

“I wasn’t aware that you had one,” Dick points out, “But I’ll try to keep it a secret if that’s what you want.”

“ _We’ll_ try to keep it a secret,” Roy says, appearing next to Dick as if out of thin air. He shifts on the bench enough to have enough space and steals one of the cooked carrots from Dick’s plate, popping it into his mouth before the prince can object, “It’s strange to me that a commoner like you would have a crest… but I guess it’s not entirely unheard of.”

“Hello, Roy,” Dick says through an obviously fake voice, “I’m forgetting when it was that I invited you to this meeting.”

“That’s alright, I won’t take it personally,” Roy waves him off and turns to Barbara, ignoring the confused faces Dick was making, “I’ve heard rumours about Bruce having the crest of Seiros, same as Donna. Maybe you’re related to her distantly? Except… you just said Professor John couldn’t recognise your crest. Surely if he knows that Bruce has the crest of Seiros then he should know you have it too.”

“Perhaps she inherited her crest from her mother,” Dick tries to argue, “Or it is a lost crest that has existed somewhere in her family but only reappeared in her. There’s many possibilities. As for Bruce, you shouldn't be listening to baseless rumours. I'm sure we'd all know if he possessed a crest like that.”

“Hm, I guess you’re right,” Roy says with a grin, “I mean, our dearest professor wouldn’t just lie to us or the church about her family connections, would she?” He asks, tone very clearly heavy with implications, “That being said, even if she was lying, she’d have nothing to worry about. I’m just interested in finding out the truth and you’re just interested in her,” as Dick’s too busy choking on his food from what Roy just said, the red head stands up, patting Dick on the back, “I’m aware of how troubling such a hypothetical situation would be and I agree. Anyway, I promised I’d train with Kaldur today after such a heavy loss at your hands. You two enjoy yourselves,” with a small wave of his hand, Roy disappears just as quickly as he appeared.

Once he’s had a drink of water and cleared his throat, Dick regains his voice, “Ah… I’m sorry. I told you he’s interested in learning everything, but he is right. If there is anything you’re hiding, he isn’t interested in revealing it unless it’s a matter of life and death… and I do not believe that is the case, correct?”

Barbara shakes her head, “I hope not. Bruce…” she looks around to make sure no one else overhears something she doesn’t want anyone else hearing before leaning in to whisper, “Bruce doesn’t trust Dinah or the Church of Seiros. I’m not sure I entirely trust them myself… although perhaps I shouldn’t be saying that to the future ruler of the _Holy_ Kingdom of Faerghus…”

Dick shakes his head reassuringly, “You needn’t worry. I’m not a deeply religious man nor am I interested in the politics surrounding the Church unless it directly relates back to the Kingdom. If you were to assault someone here without reason, would I stand by your side? Probably not, if anything I think I'd actually protect them unless you believed they were causing harm. But I’ve been let down so many times I’m not sure there’s much point in me praying to the Goddess, let alone devoting myself to the Church.”

That somewhat surprised Barbara. If anything, she was partially expecting Dick to end the conversation as soon as it turned to the Church and speaking against it. Not that he seemed particularly interested in believing her about doubting them, but telling her that he barely even followed the teachings of the Church that ruled over Fodlan was curious to her, “I see… is this a commonly shared belief among the nobles?”

“Donna is not fond of the Church,” Dick informs her, “As for Roy… he wasn’t raised in Fodlan and has little reason to believe in the Goddess. Which might make me the most devout out of the three despite what I just said. As for the others… it depends. Kory, for obvious reasons, doesn’t believe in the Goddess and doesn’t agree with all of the teachings of the church of Seiros. Zatanna on the other hand comes from a deeply religious background so she’s quite devout. Most of the others are somewhere in between the two, although I can’t speak for all of them.”

“That’s… somewhat comforting, actually,” Barbara leans back when she realises she’s still close to Dick even though they’ve resumed talking in a normal tone, “I was worried that the school was strict on religion here.”

“As long as you’re not actively going against the Church, they don’t see you as a threat,” Dick shakes his head, “However, they have strict laws in place for sinners and blasphemers. I won’t be surprised if you end up seeing what happens when someone opposes the church in the future… um… let’s move onto lighter topics, yeah? I did win the bet after all and was promised stories.”

“Ugh,” Barbara groans and jokingly rolls her eyes, “And here I was hoping I could distract you with religion and politics. Alright, Your Highness, what is it you’d like to hear?”


	5. As Swift as Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning that their next mission involves dealing with the same bandits she met earlier, Barbara approaches her class a little differently.  
> Zatanna teaches Tim organisation, Artemis and Rose vent, Kory shows Bette how to fight, Rose speaks with Barbara.

The candlelight of one desk in the library throws Zatanna off when she expects no one else to be in the room at this time of the night. It’s why she came here to begin with- she knew she’d have some peace and quiet, so who’s studying at this late hour?

“Tim?” She asks when she recognises his dark hair and smaller figure, “It’s late, have you been here all day? I haven’t seen you anywhere else in the monastery today now that I think about it…”

Tim nods without turning away from the book he was reading, “Yes, I’ve been busy studying all day. The exams are coming up, I can’t fail them.”

Zatanna pulls up a chair next to him and takes a seat. When he still doesn’t look at her, she steals his book, closing it but marking the page he was on by putting a finger on the page before shutting it, “You’re not going to beat Dick by fatiguing yourself and reading books all day, trust me.”

“This isn’t about him,” Tim shakes his head and reaches for the book half-heartedly, Zatanna easily pulling it out of his grasp, “Fine… It’s not specifically about him. I’m a Drake, which means that one day I’ll be expected to serve the king and to take care of my own land. My family has always been particular about who should be the next heir. I was lucky enough to be born with a Crest, but it’s not enough. If I can’t fight, I could lose everything.”

Listening to him, her playful expression sours quickly and falls into one of concern. It surprised her that Tim was already at this school with them all considering how young he was, and the implications of him having already fought in battle were even more troubling, “I understand the burden of nobility, trust me. But tiring yourself out isn’t going to help you either, not at this age. You can’t fight for your king if you’ve died before he’s even crowned, and that will happen if you spend your nights studying and lose any alertness out on the battlefield.”

“Then what am I supposed to go?” Tim groans, leaning forward and putting his forehead to the desk, “I’m not strong like Dick or Victor so I can’t win with brute force alone, I’m not as good at magic as you or Kory are so I can’t just blast the enemy… books and strategy is all that I have but that’s apparently only going to get me killed.”

Zatanna shakes her head, opens the book again and places it back on the desk, “It’s not about what you’re learning, but when and how much. What you need is a little organisation. Make a timetable, set aside some time for studying and the rest for sleep or relaxation. If you stick to that, you shouldn’t have any problems. You’ll surpass all of us in no time!”

“Hmm,” Tim hums, lifting his head up, “Yeah, that could work… but I’ll do that tomorrow, once I’ve slept some…. Speaking of which, why are you here? Shouldn’t _you_ be asleep too?”

“I tried,” Zatanna informs him, “I was hoping that praying might help but someone was already in the cathedral and I didn’t want to disturb them at such a late hour, so I came here to find a book that might help me get to sleep. How about this- you help me find the perfect book to fall asleep to, and I will help you set up your timetable tomorrow during breakfast. How does that sound?”

“Pretty fair to me.”

* * *

Everyone is already sitting at their desks and chatting away when Barbara walks inside the classroom, and as soon as she sets her books down everyone quiets down. She sighs deeply before looking over her students, “Our next mission isn’t going to be as fun as the last one, which is why today’s lesson is going to be a little different. Those of you who have fought and killed on the battlefield before, please stand up.”

The first two to stand up simultaneously are Dick and Rose, neither looking away from Barbara as they admit to it. They’re quickly followed by Victor, who stands up right after them, just as confidently, then Artemis, and finally Tim, who almost doesn’t move from his seat.

“Okay,” Barbara nods, trying not to show how horrible she felt that over half of her class already face such hardships. She expected Dick to stand up from what she knew about him, and wasn’t surprised that the two people who swore to keep him alive would have also stood by him in battle, but she’s shocked to see that even someone as young as Tim would have already known what it was like, “Our next mission is to dispose of the thieves that attacked Remire village last month. They have resurfaced, and only few remain. Unless you have any qualms about this, you’re dismissed from today’s lessons.”

Artemis is the first to leave, picking up her books with no hesitation, followed by Rose and Victor. Barbara waits until the last two decide to go, although Tim sits back down, “I don’t have a problem with dealing with thieves but… I’d like to take this class.”

Dick sits down next to him, “I’ll stay as well.”

“Hmm,” Tim hums, looking him over, “I wouldn’t have thought you’d have an issue with something like this…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dick asks with furrowed eyebrows.

“N-nothing,” Tim shakes his head and looks down, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Not wanting to waste anymore of his classmates’ time, Dick turns to Barbara once more and motions to her, “I’m sorry, professor. I didn’t want to hold up the class. What’s the lesson plan for today?”

* * *

As soon as she’s out of the class, Artemis makes her way through the gardens and over to her dorm, the quickest route she knew, and yet somehow, Rose was already there, waiting for her, leaning against one of the pillars with her arms folded, “So, you have experience on the battlefield.”

Artemis rolls her eyes, putting a hand to her hip, “Is that really so surprising? You didn’t think I paid my way in or got in through my family somehow, did you? The only other way to get into this academy is through talent and resolve, the kind you can only develop by fighting others.”

“I’m not surprised,” Rose shakes her head and stands up straight, “I’ve been at His Highness’ side for most of his battles, and I don’t remember you fighting alongside us, but here you are, as a Blue Lion.”

“Ha!” Artemis laughs right in her face, “Oh, are you really questioning my loyalty? I don’t like talking about my past, but if it’s going to stop you from possibly assassinating me in my sleep then I might as well tell you; my mother is not from Fodlan, my father is from the Empire but I was born in the Kingdom. The archbishop made an exception and let me choose which house I should go in… you guys seemed a lot less problematic than the Black Eagles, so here I am. Clearly, I made the wrong choice.”

Rose looks away from Artemis, considering her next words, before sighing and looking at her once more, “You didn’t. It’s just… it’s my duty to make sure that His Highness isn’t harmed, and that means that I have to check for any unknowns. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You didn’t, I’ve come to expect it,” Artemis replies harshly.

“You shouldn’t,” Rose insists, “I know I’m not exactly a ‘people person’, however I admit your skills are impressive. Losing you as an ally would be a great loss for the Kingdom… so is there anything I can do so that you wouldn’t think of me as so hostile?”

“The frowning doesn’t help,” Artemis admits, “But you’re not the only one I’m not fond of. There’s Wally for one. He’s a total jackass.”

“I live next to him,” Rose agrees, pointing in the direction of her dorm, “I’ve heard that one way to bond is gossip over tea. I’m not really one for gossiping or one for tea for that matter… but maybe I can change your mind over some venting and cake?”

“…Alright,” Artemis throws her hands up, “I guess I could be a little more open to you all instead of expecting the conversation to immediately turn sour. Will you be frowning?”

“When talking about what I hear from Wally’s bedroom, yes,” Rose jokes, bringing an uncommon smile to Artemis’ face, “But if you’re talking about general conversation… I’ll see what I can do. Maybe someday I can get you to tell me how exactly you learned all of this.”

“It wasn’t on fighting the Kingdom, if that’s going to set your mind at ease,” Artemis reassures her, and Rose gives her a hint of a smile.

“For the time being it’s enough.”

* * *

Barbara rubs her temples when she finds a quiet corner in the monastery, hoping to just get this out of the way as quickly as possible. Sure, she’s led battalions to battle before, but they were all mercenaries older than her. It was easy to tell someone with decades of experience on her what to do, especially when she knew they wouldn’t hesitate to kill the enemies in front of them. However, the last class proved difficult, making sure those who had never entered the battlefield with their lives on the line had the courage to do so.

Kory and Dick were fine to deal with. Although having some reservations, it was easy enough to set their minds at ease about the upcoming fight, Kory proving very useful to her when the others had a much worse reaction than either of them.

Throughout the class, Tim and Bette were completely pale, to the extent that Barbara wasn’t even sure if they were paying any attention at all. Zatanna and Wally, although also uncomfortable with the subject were a little better with regards to their acceptance of the situation, but their constant questions clearly didn’t set Tim and Bette at ease.

In the end, she decided she’d have to put those who were least comfortable on the front lines, so they’d get used to the idea as soon as possible. They had to if they wanted to stay at the Officers Academy. She’ll talk strategy with Dick at a later date. For now, she needs a break.

“Looks like you’ve had quite the troublesome class,” a knight in dark armour says as he approaches her, “I have a message for you, from the Kingdom.”

“Who is the message from?” Barbara asks, raising an eyebrow. She wasn’t already in trouble with them for whatever reason, was she?

“It’s a request from House Drake,” The knight explains to her, “It’s not uncommon for various noble houses to request aide from the students here at Garreg Mach, so you have nothing to worry about. It’s an invitation to training with their knights in their territory.”

“Now?”

“Lord Drake knows that your students have their own timetables and classes to attend, however he wishes to know your response and time of arrival in his territory so he can make the necessary preparations,” the knight replies, “I have a mission in the nearby region. I can personally deliver your response.”

“I’ll have to speak with my students about the timing, but I believe that the training may help them,” Barbara agrees, “Thank you for the message…” she trails off, hoping he’ll provide her with a name.

The knight complies, “Slade Wilson, at your service,” he bows his head respectfully, “If you need me, I will be in the training grounds for the remainder of the day.”

When the knight leaves, Barbara turns around and heads straight for the dining hall where she was certain she’d find the Blue Lions house leader. She finds who she’s looking for, currently eating lunch with a fellow student, “Hello professor,” Dick and Zatanna day in unison, “Will you be joining us for lunch?” Before she can even sit down, Zatanna’s already standing up and going to the cook to ask for another plate. With no way to decline now, the teacher takes a seat across from her students.

“I was approached by one of the knights with a proposition,” Barbara begins, “Have you met Sir Wilson? That knight with the eyepatch?”

Dick’s mood visibly changes, the grip on his fork tightening enough to bend the metal, his back straightening and his eyes narrowing, “I’ve had the displeasure in the past, yes. He’s from the Kingdom after all.”

“The displeasure?” Barbara asks for clarification.

“It’s a long story,” he says dismissively as Zatanna returns with a plate full of food for her.

“We have time right now.”

Dick clears his throat and looks over to Zatanna, “Maybe you want to explain what happened to House Wilson. I’ve repeated myself on that issue far too much now.”

Zatanna raises an eyebrow questioningly, but regardless she follows through, “Sir Wilson wasn’t always a knight here. His two sons died in the Tragedy of Duscur, and his wife disappeared soon after... but we’re pretty sure there was already something fishy going on with him before that. He had an illegitimate daughter, and to hide it from his family, he sent her to the Empire... I don’t know the full story, so you’ll have to keep going,” Zatanna tells Dick.

“We don’t know what happened there,” Dick continues from her, looking down at his food, “Most of the Kingdom was divided between those with crests, but House Wilson never presented one and gained their title through their deeds long ago. There was a rebellion in his territory, which was the first time Tim, Victor and I fought together on the battlefield. That’s when we first came across his daughter, who he claimed was just one of his soldiers. I had my doubts considering her experience and age, so I took her to House Zatara with me.”

“House Zatara has deep connections to the Church of Seiros,” Zatanna explains, “We have many crest scholars, and Dick knew that whatever happened to this girl, it was supernatural. As soon as we uncovered that she possessed a crest, Slades brother came forward and told us about how Rose was subjected to horrible experiments in order to artificially produce a crest.”

The fork in Dicks hand snaps and the end of it flings into the air before hitting the table with a small clink. He sets down the other end of it and sighs, “I had him exiled, so he came here since Garreg Mach is neutral territory and he was skilled enough to become a knight here. As for Rose... It was the first time I realized I was so self-absorbed I wasn’t even paying attention to what was happening in my Kingdom. I insisted that I had to do something, anything, and yet all she wished for was to become strong enough to protect me, just as I had protected her that day. Anyway, you said he proposed something?”

“He was just the messenger,” Barbara shakes her head, “Lord Drake would like for us to train with his knights in his territory.”

“Oh?” Dicks smile returns to his face, “Well, if that’s all then I’ll be happy to join, if that’s what you think is best anyway. I could help motivate everyone else. But... well, if it’s alright with you, professor, I want to check with Tim first if this request is legitimate, and I would prefer it if he wrote to Lord Drake about the matter himself.”

“If it’ll put your mind at ease, go for it,” Barbara agrees, “We’ll set off on Saturday. I would appreciate it if you could both inform the rest of the class about this.”

“We’ll get on that after lunch.”

* * *

“Hey, Kory, wait up!” Bette calls after the girl that was headed towards the room and runs over so that she may catch up with her, “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“Not at all,” Kory says, turning around to face her classmate, “I was going to leave my books in my room and then perhaps go on a stroll outside of the monastery. Do you require my aid in anything? Or have you simply stopped me for the sake of chatter?”

“I have a favour to ask…” Bette replies sheepishly, “I’m not really the warrior, knight type, or at least I wasn’t up until my cousin decided she didn’t want to become the next Margrave of House Kane. I know you had quite a lot of issues when you first came to Faerghus in proving yourself as strong woman who isn’t here just for her inheritance, and well, that’s really inspiring.”

“Oh… thank you,” Kory replies, blush creeping onto her cheeks, “That wasn’t quite the reason why I decided to train and come here to learn the ways of a knight. The people of Faerghus are quite conservative in their views, and the appearance of an outsider is rarely welcome. I had to prove myself as one of you in order to truly become one with House Anders. However… I believe that there are still some houses who do not trust me to eventually become the countess of House Anders, including House Kane.”

Bette looks up from the ground, but she doesn’t quite meet her eyes, “I don’t know if this helps at all, but the only people that my uncle does trust are my cousin, Lord Drake, and maybe Dick and the regent King… and that’s a big maybe. I don’t think it’s an excuse just-.”

Kory lifts her hand up to stop Bette from blabbering on any further, “I do not fault you, Bette. It would be unfair of me to judge you by your familial ties, and I hope that this sentiment is mutual. You are not your uncle, nor are you your cousin, and as important as bloodlines are in this nation, I do not believe they define you.”

“Wish you could tell that to a bunch of our parents,” Bette mutters, “But family isn’t really what I wanted to talk to you about. I was actually hoping that you’d show me your sword technique? I heard it’s quite impressive, and I know I usually use lances, but I should expand my horizons, right?”

“Your exams do not require it, as far as I am aware… however, I will be happy to oblige. Let us go to the training grounds at once.”

“Uh…” Bette stutters, “R-right now?! I’m not sure I’ve prepared myself for this, and you’ve got books and-.”

“Yes, yes!” Kory holds her books in one hand and takes Bette’s hand in her free one, dragging her to the training grounds, “Let us not waste this daylight!”

* * *

“Rose,” Barbara says at the end of class the next day, “I would like to discuss some matters with you, in private,” she emphasises when Dick sticks around a little longer to see what exactly was going on. The prince leaves the two alone in the classroom and shuts the door behind him, “I received a message from House Drake about an upcoming training session. It was delivered to me by Slade Wilson, one of the Knights of Seiros.”

Rose raises an eyebrow at her, “I’m not the house leader. Why aren’t you bringing this up with His Highness? I’ll end up doing whatever he tells me to anyway.”

Barbara shakes her head, “I’ve already talked to him about this and we’re going because it’s an excellent opportunity for you all to train before your exams come up. I’m talking about Slade being here to begin with. Does Lady Dinah know about your past?”

Rose turns her head to look through the window, then looks back to Babs, “Dick told you? Hm, I suppose then he thinks your trustworthy enough, so I’ll comply. The archbishop knows of the situation that took place in House Wilson, but to her I’m just Rose Worth, a commoner who’s talented enough to work as the prince’s guard. That’s the same for everyone except Zatanna, Victor and His Highness. I suppose Slade probably knows it’s me, the hair is enough of a giveaway.”

“Your hair?”

Rose pulls at some strands of it, turning her head so she can watch her white hair fall through her fingers, “It’s unnatural, don’t you think? A result of bearing a crest I’m not supposed to have.”

“Donna’s hair is the same, does that mean-.”

“I don’t know,” Rose says dismissively, “I don’t know what the imperial princess looked like before, and her father is old enough to have her shade of white naturally, so it’s impossible for me to tell what happened to her. It doesn’t matter anyway; I didn’t come here to get revenge on him.”

“Oh?” That surprised Barbara, since she was sure the connection couldn’t have been coincidental. She didn’t put it past Rose to lie to her, “What if Slade exposes you?”

“He won’t,” Rose insists, “Not while His Highness is here. He may not be king yet, but Dinah would rather lose one of her knights than destroy relations with the Kingdom over something like this, and I’m certain that he would stand behind me on this issue.”

“Your loyalty to him is unquestionable, but how can you be so sure that he’d be willing to go to such lengths for you?”

Rose narrows her eyes at her, but her face relaxes after a few seconds of consideration, “I suppose you’ve only known him for a short period of time, but I have known him for years now. He’s already sacrificed so much for my sake, and although I wouldn’t ask him to do it a second time, I know I wouldn’t need to should the occasion present itself,” she begins walking away, but turns when she grabs the door handle, “Oh, as a heads up, if you ever speak ill of him in my presence, I _will_ cut you down.”


	6. Familiar Scenery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Rachel argue, Dick and Zatanna arrange a meeting and Wally complains about classes.

**_Zanado… the Red Canyon. This place, it feels very familiar, and yet I do not believe you have ever been here before. Perhaps one day when you are not busy teaching these children you can come back here and help me figure these things out. Although speaking of that, I’m not entirely sure I’m comfortable with you leading these children into battle, regardless of whether they have experienced it beforehand or not. The youngest of them is fifteen, correct? I would hardly call that a fulfilling life… I suppose there is little I can do to change this, but I will aid you in whichever way I can. Do you remember the first time we fought alongside your students? Or rather, those three house leaders? I allowed you to turn back the hands of time when one of them was gravely injured, but in short bursts, that power is limited due to the toll it can take on your mortal body… For now, let us concentrate on the task at hand._ **

Looking over from the top of a hill, Barbara looks down at a landing where the thieves had gathered, out of earshot for her to hear what they were talking about. Not that she would've heard it when Sothis was being so loud. Dick joins her, looking over to the group that had gathered below them, “There they are… professor, how would you like to proceed?”

“Victor, Kory and Rose will be at the front lines with me, followed by Wally, you, Tim and Bette. Zatanna, you will be at the back providing us with support. Artemis, you will also be in the back,” she points to the group of thieves, “We cannot allow them to get away this time, so as soon as we approach, the four of us on the front lines will charge behind them to block their path. Follow my instructions carefully.”

“I’m ready and awaiting your orders.” Victor says, wiping some mud off of his axe.

“Just tell me where to shoot,” Artemis nods while pulling an arrow out from her sheath.

“I think we’re all ready to go,” Dick says to Barbara, “We’ll move at your command, professor.”

“Then let’s go,” Along with Victor, Kory and Rose, Barbara charges ahead to fight the thieves. As soon as they see the professor and her students running at them, the thieves take on a fighting stance and separate into groups, with the first four of them blocking the bridge ahead.

Kory runs in first, shooting fire at one of the fighters, burning him until he’s nothing but ash, “I cannot hesitate now,” her face cringes at the sight before her and she shakes her head, trying to get rid of the thoughts plaguing her.

Rose runs in next, swinging her sword at one of the thieves. She misses her first hit but manages to drive her sword into the thieves’ arm. While the thief is preoccupied with his wound, Rose pulls out her sword and slashes away again, this time cutting his neck. The man falls to the ground, clutching at his neck, but he soon stops moving, “No point stopping now. Let’s keep moving ahead.”

Barbara runs into the fight with no hesitation, still more in the mindset of a mercenary than a teacher, she drives her sword right through the chest of the archer in front of her. Behind her, one of the thieves swings his sword at her and almost hits, were it not for Victor throwing his axe into the thief’s back, killing him instantly, “If not him, then you would have gotten hurt.”

“Thank you,” She nods and looks back at the rest of the students, “By my count, there should be 12 of them left. Kory, Rose, Victor, Zatanna, Artemis and I will charge ahead. The rest of you, take them out through the side wing,” she points in the direction of a bridge to their left, “Is that clear?”

They follow through with her plan, the smaller group running to the bridge and taking out anyone who stands in their way.

The first to make it across is Wally, who swipes his lance at another fighter. His movements are sloppier than those of the fighter, but his strength and speed make up for it as he manages to stab his opponent in the chest, “I expected it to be gruesome but… this is much worse than I imagined…” he mutters as he takes his lance out of the man.

Dick runs in right after him, hitting his opponent in the legs with his lance before the man even gets a chance to swing his sword at him, knocking him to the ground before piercing his chest with his lance. He removes it and sighs, “I can already tell you; it doesn’t get much easier with time.”

Bette is more reluctant in her movements as she approaches another archer. She swiftly manages to jump out of the way of his arrows but hesitates when she gets close to him. Luckily for her, Tim is just as fast and saves her before the archer has the chance to stab her with his knife as the younger student throws his lance and impales the archer, “We hesitate, we die. Don’t let it get to your head,” Tim says harshly.

Her reflexes kick in when a thief tries to sneak up on Tim. She shoves him out of the way with her lance, then drives it into the thief before he’s able to kill either one of them. She removes her lance, shock covering her face, “I… I just did that…”

On the other side of the battlefield, the rest of the group runs across to meet them halfway, Artemis shooting down the enemy before they even reach them, “I won’t let them kill you!” She shouts as she shoots another arrow and kills one of the fighters.

Seeing an archer readying his arrows, Zatanna focuses less on healing and more on fighting. She sees an opening, and shoots a blast of wind at the archer, sending him flying over the edge of the canyon, “I can only hope they rest in peace now…”

Rose, Kory and Wally are the first to reach the other side of the battlefield where the leader of the thieves stood, along with the remaining 5 thieves. Without hesitation, a mage shoots a ball of fire at Rose, who doesn’t manage to jump out of the way in time and takes the hit. Most of her armour seems to absorb it, but nevertheless, she backs off as Zatanna rushes in to heal her wound.

Kory steps in and shoots fire back at the mage, who dodges her attack, but in doing so gives Wally an opening. Wally takes the opportunity and slashes at the mage.

Bette and Tim take care of the two fighters in front of them quickly, the fighters themselves unable to defend properly against either of them when their crests activate and deliver fatal blows.

Artemis shoots an arrow at one of the thieves, distracting him long enough for Victor to charge in and drive his axe through the man’s skull. Barbara deals with the remaining thief by locking him in a duel, one that the thief loses when Barbara swipes at his legs with her own and stabs the thief in the neck.

Dick runs in, gripping tightly onto his lance as he approaches the thief leader, who readies his axe, prepared to face off against the prince, “Ha! You think a spoiled noble like you can take me down? What can a brat like you do anyway?”

Dick grits his teeth and charges in, swiping his lance left and right, although the thief leader jumps out of the way each time, making sure to keep his distance from the prince, “Your first mistake was underestimating me, so I’ll just have to make sure you don’t make that mistake again,” He runs in, jumps up and throws his lance down at the thief just as his crest activates, “This battle is over!” He shouts when his lance leaves his hands and not only impales the thief but breaks when it crashes into the stone beneath their feet.

“That’s all of them, right?” Tim asks, trying to look in any direction except for the thief, “What were they thinking coming here anyway?”

“They’re the same thieves that attacked me, Donna and Roy,” Dick explains as he removes the broken lance from the body of the thief, “I’ll replace it when we get back to the monastery,” he informs Barbara with a sigh while looking at the split end of his lance.

Barbara shakes her head, “I understand that your strength is difficult to control, but I’m more concerned about the ruthlessness with which you attacked the leader. You can’t let your emotions get in the way of the battle.”

“Um…” Bette says as she approaches the group, “That’s great and all, but can we get back now? If we wait around for too long, it’ll get dark and beasts will start coming out and uh… well honestly I’d rather have our feedback when we’re not surrounded by all the people we just killed.”

“While I don’t agree with such cowardice-,” Rose begins, earning a ‘hey!’ from an upset Bette, “She has a point. If we’ve finished our mission, we should get back to the monastery.”

“Then let’s depart,” Barbara agrees, sheathing her sword, “I’ll be giving you feedback once classes resume. Until then, you can rest.”

* * *

As they return to the monastery, the group immediately disperses, most of them either heading to the baths or to their dorms, and just when she decides to first go to her dorm room to leave her weapons there, Barbara catches a glimpse of Dick staring at John and Donna leaving the monastery.

“Do you have a mission right now?” The prince asks the princess, “Good luck, and stay safe out there, yeah? Don’t run into a situation you can’t get out of.”

Donna narrows her eyes at him, hand landing on her hips, “Oh? Are you saying I don’t know how to handle myself out on the battlefield?”

“N-no,” Dick quickly shakes his head, “I just… sorry, I didn’t want to offend you or anything, just wanted you to know that if you got hurt, uh, that would be… not great.”

“Eloquently put,” Donna laughs and waves him off, “I was joking… partially. I know what I’m doing, so I don’t need any luck. Goodbye, Dick,” she leaves the hall with John following her.

“What was that about?” Barbara asks, intrigued by the weird exchange, “Oh… do you happen to have a crush on her? It’s cute you know, but you really have to work on your lines.”

“Ah...!” Dick exclaims, eyes going wide, “That’s…! I’ll explain some other time, okay? For now I’d appreciate it if you forgot about this and didn’t tell anyone about that exchange. Please?”

Barbara rolls her eyes and laughs, “I’m not going to start gossiping with the others about their leader, don’t worry… well at least not yet,” she leaves him with a wink and heads back to her room.

* * *

When she’s cleaned the blood and mud off of herself, Barbara tries to return to her room, only to be intercepted by Karen, “I believe you’re forgetting something. After each mission, the archbishop would appreciate it if you reported back to her as soon as possible.”

Barbara wasn’t about to admit that she forgot about that. Back as a mercenary, she would tell Bruce that she disposed of whoever it was she was taking care of at the time but she’d hardly call that a report, “I was covered in mud and blood, I didn’t think the archbishop would appreciate such a sight.”

“You’re clean now, aren’t you?” Karen asks her, “She’s awaiting you in the audience chamber.”

It takes all of her might to stop herself from groaning, but Barbara does as she’s told and changes course for the audience chamber. She finds Dinah waiting inside at the very end of the hall, “I have received word that you disbanded those thieves. You didn’t have any troubles, did you?”

Barbara shakes her head, “The students are fine, Rose got burned by a mage but I had Zatanna take care of her immediately so she doesn’t even need to go to the infirmary… but those bandits, they were the same ones that attacked the house leaders in Remire Village last month. Is someone targeting them?”

“I have the Knights investigating that very matter,” Dinah informs her, “Even if this had been their first fight, the future king, emperor and sovereign duke have many enemies, civilians and criminals alike, those who do not agree with the state. I’m sad to say it but I can only hope that these thieves fall into that category and are not part of something greater. Regardless, this matter will hopefully be resolved soon. How was your time in Zanado? It was the first time you were there, correct?”

Barbara nods, “It’s… different. The ruins indicate that a city was once there, but the architecture doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen before. Was there a civilisation that existed before even the empire?”

“A goddess once alighted Zanado, a long time when a civilisation thrived there,” Dinah begins her explanation, “It is where the divine Seiros received her revelation. You will learn more about it through her teaching’s, I’m sure of it,” she looks behind Barbara and catches Karen trying to get her attention, “It seems that my presence is needed elsewhere. I will have Karen inform you about your next mission.”

**_Zanado is where the goddess once alighted, a city forgotten by time I presume. The place feels so familiar, perhaps it is where I am from? However, if it has been abandoned long ago…_ **

“Then that would imply you’re a ghost,” Barbara quietly finishes Sothis’ thought. The girl scolds her in return.

**_If I am a ghost, then how am I speaking to you?! No, I feel that I am alive… this is quite bothersome. I ask that you return there one day and help me understand all of this. But to think I'd feel such a strong connection in a place like that is quite unnerving to say the least._ **

* * *

For the rest of evening, as Rose walks around returning her books to the library, cleaning her swords and eating dinner, she can’t help but feel like someone’s watching her the whole time. When the feeling doesn’t go away, she leaves the monastery and makes her way to the nearby chapel ruins, hopefully to get rid of her stalker. When they don’t leave, she finally pulls out her sword, “I don’t like being watched like this. If you want a fight, then come and face me here and now.”

“I’m not looking for a fight,” Rachel says, leaving the shadows and stepping into the moonlight. She pulls down her hood to show her face, “Did I make you uncomfortable?”

Rose shakes her head and sheathes her sword, “uncomfortable? No. Confused and annoyed? Very. What do you want, Rachel? I thought you were trying to avoid me… you certainly made it seem that way when we first arrived at the monastery.”

“I was… scared,” Rachel admits as she looks down, “Not of you, but scared at the possibility that you wouldn’t want to speak with me at all.”

“I see,” Rose sits down on one of the larger rocks and folds her arms, crossing her legs, “Well, I do want us to speak. You think I hate you for what happened all those years ago, right? That I've been avoiding you on purpose?”

“How could I not?” Rachel asks, “My father tortured you, experimented on you. I could never think you’d forgive any of us.”

Rose shakes her head and sighs, “If your father were standing right here, I would remove his eyes, cut off his limbs and only end his life once he begged me enough times to do it. I hate him, I hate Slade, I hate everyone who did this to me,” She pulls on a strand of her hair, “But you didn’t do anything. We were children at the time, and yeah, maybe then I didn’t understand the difference, but I do now. I spat on you when you fed me because I was angry at everything and you were the only one, I could take it out on. I threw insults at you even when you loosened my shackles, and that wasn’t okay. You weren’t my warden, your father was.”

Regardless of Roses words, Rachel looks down, “I could have set you free. I didn’t.”

“Then what?” Rose stands up, “Count Roth would have sent his men after me and I would’ve died alone in a forest, the deeds of our parents would remain a secret and who knows how many more would be harmed. You want to apologise for what happened to me? Truly?”

Rachel finally looks up and right in Roses eyes, “I don’t want you to hate me, that is all.”

“I don’t hate you,” Rose insists, “And if you really think I’m lying, then bringing your fathers head to me will certainly change my feelings towards House Roth,” she walks past Rachel, back in the direction of the monastery, “Or if that’s too hard of a task, anyone involved will suffice. Goodbye, Rachel.”

* * *

_Tell me, **Nemesis** , do you recall the Red Canyon?!_

Barbara wakes with a start the next morning and has to take a second to recall that she isn’t on some unknown battlefield, fighting with an army to the death for… what was it for? A woman… Seiros? It certainly looked like al the depictions she had seen of the saint. She was fighting a man, Nemesis, Barbara assumed, and had bested him in combat as Barbara watched from afar.

Was Sothis involved in this? Was that why she was having this strange dream?

It was all becoming a bit much for her, so as soon as she's ready to leave her room, Barbara makes a beeline for the captains’ quarters, just outside of the audience chamber. She doesn’t bother knocking on the door and finds Bruce already inside, “You’re free, aren’t you?”

“For now,” Bruce confirms and closes the door behind her, “You look startled. Your students, nothing happened to them, did it? I warned you about getting close to them.”

Barbara takes a seat on one of the couches in his office and shakes her head, “No, they’re all fine… a couple maybe distraught from killing for the first time in their lives but physically they’re mostly unharmed. I… I’ve been getting headaches and dizzy spells and weird dreams lately. Have I had this before? I don’t remember.”

Bruce takes a seat on the couch opposite to her, “You’re asking me a loaded question… You’re the first kid I ever had to take care of, so I wasn’t the expert on them at the time, not enough to tell you if anything happening to you was unusual or just a case of growing up, but… I don’t recall you ever crying, and it was rare to even see a real smile on your face. As for dizzy spells and headaches, you never complained about something like that to me before. The dreams… you told me about them in the past, about a battlefield.”

“That’s the one,” Barbara agrees, “I remember now. You just thought it was from all the fighting we were doing.”

Bruce nods once, “Yes, but I could be wrong. In any case, you should keep that to yourself for the time being. The kids probably don’t have any agenda against you, but I have no idea what Dinah’s plan for you is, and I don’t know how much that prince your teaching talks to the faculty.”

“He’s full of secrets himself, it seems,” Barbara agrees, “If it doesn’t interfere with my teaching or battles, I don’t see any reason in bringing it up,” she stands up and goes to the door, “But… it’s still nice to vent about it. It’s fine if I come here from time to time and speak to you about these things, right?”

“My door is always open,” Bruce replies without a smile on his face, but Barbara knows it’s a sincere offer, “Anything else?”

“Yeah, actually… Was there ever a little blond girl in my dreams? Did I say anything about her?”

“There was a blond woman…” Bruce tries to recall all the times Barbara ever brought up her dreams, “But there was never a little girl involved. Is she showing up too?” Barbara nods, “Hm… Perhaps it’s because you’re fighting alongside these kids instead of older mercenaries.”

She knew better than that. Sothis had been around since before she started teaching after all, nor was she actually part of the dreams, but she couldn’t tell even Bruce that Sothis was more than just a dream to her now.

* * *

“Oh, hello, Dick,” Zatanna says when she finds him in the cathedral early that morning, “You’re up early… and in here of all places. I didn’t know you were so devout.”

“I’m not,” Dick shakes his head, “I don’t get the best sleep, so coming here every morning relaxes me,” he explains his routine to her, “It’s peaceful, quiet and uh… well, in a way, it makes me feel a little closer to those that have passed.”

Zatanna nods and smiles, “I understand perfectly, it’s comforting to know that those we love and have parted from us are still watching over. Is there any particular reason you can’t sleep?”

“Nightmares,” He tells her while turning away and facing the statue of Seiros in front of them, looking up at where her face should have been but had come off over the course of time, “I’ve learned how to deal with them, but still they wake me up, so I come here every morning while seeking comfort… I hope that doesn’t bother you.”

Zatanna shakes her head, “Seiros herself would be happy to know you find comfort in coming here, in speaking to those who are no longer here, regardless of whether you follow her teachings. But you know, if you’re ever feeling lost or upset, my door is always open.”

“I don’t want to bother you and wake you up,” Dick shakes his head, “And before you say you don’t mind, think of how it would look for me to walk into your room in the middle of the night. Wally’s teasing would never end.”

Zatanna shrugs, “I could have far worse rumours than being your secret consort,” her comment makes her, and Dick laugh in unison, “And if night-time is an issue for you, we could always just hide away during the day and nap, escape from our responsibilities and all that.”

“You’re very insistent on me coming to your room,” Dick grins slyly, “I’m starting to think that you’re hoping that rumour becomes true,” she swats at his arm and he laughs again, “I’m kidding. The professor already offered I come see her if it becomes a problem, but the nap dates don’t sound like a terrible idea. Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer some day.”

“Good,” Zatanna nods, “And Dick? Trust me, if that was my end goal, I’d be a lot less subtle about it. I just… well I don’t always sleep well either, so I thought it… that it could be nice to maybe have someone to fall asleep next to. Okay, there’s no way to make this sound platonic, is there?”

“Maybe not,” Dick shrugs and looks to her again, “It doesn’t matter. Let the outside world think what it will, at least we’ll both be getting enough sleep to stay wide awake on the battlefield,” the bell over the cathedral tolls, “For now it sounds like we should be getting to class, but I have no plans afterwards.”

“Neither do I,” Zatanna smiles and the two of them leave the cathedral together.

* * *

The last to walk into the class are Zatanna and Dick, who sit at their respective desks just before the class starts. Barbara walks around her desk and leans back against her desk, “We just finished up our last mission, and I presume we have more to come, more missions where our task will be to kill more people. So, I need to know if you can all do that once again, and again, and again, because I can’t guarantee that once you graduate, life won’t be similar to what we’re doing here at the Officer’s Academy.”

The students shift uncomfortably in their seats, and Barbara gives them time to face and admit their feelings to the whole class, “There’s no judging here, it might not seem like it, but each and every one of us has gone through the same thing, either now, or years ago.”

“It was… hard,” Kory admits first, looking away from Barbara, “You would think that as they are thieves, they are deserving of such punishment, but at the end of the day they too are people, perhaps with families who will miss them… I do not understand how one can go on like this.”

“They don’t,” Tim says, “It’s… well, you learn how to desensitise yourself in the moment, but the guilt doesn’t really go away. It hasn't for me.”

“It’s rough,” Rose agrees, folding her arms, “But we have to do it if we’re going to stay here. Being a knight isn’t as glorious as some make it out to be. It’s not just about chivalry.”

Barbara rests her palms on the desk behind her, “It isn’t. I couldn’t tell you that, being a mercenary all of my life, but if it’s what you’d like, I could have one of the knights come in and tell you about their experiences. Would that help any of you?”

“With the right knight,” Artemis comments, “Not all of them are… kind.”

“Maybe Lady Kate could come in?” Victor suggests, “She’s very experienced and respectful. She could provide the insight we need.”

Bette shakes her head, “Kate is super busy, I don’t think she’ll have the time to come coach us necessarily… oh, there is Sir Oliver! He’s from the Alliance but he’ll be willing to tell us some stories.”

“I’ll speak to Bruce about it and see what I can do,” Barbara agrees, “So, no one’s quitting on me?” The class remains quiet and she gifts them with a smile, “Perfect. Then let’s continue with class.”

* * *

When class ends, one of her students stays back, for what she assumes is questions for his upcoming exam, “Wally, how can I help you today?”

“You seem to be in a good mood today, professor,” Wally says with a smile, “So… exams are coming up… and there’s one thing I’m not sure about. I mean, I know I’ll ace them, but I remember you telling me to train my white magic use and uh… I disagree with it.”

“How so?” Barbara asks him, tilting her head a little.

“It’s just…” Wally sighs, “I hate it! It’s all bogus, and I don’t even believe any of it. Look, I know we’re from the Kingdom and all and supposed to support the Church but… why? I just don’t understand. That’s not what I mean… the logic behind white magic is super easy and obvious, but I don’t see why I have to learn about Saint Seiros and Saint Cethleann and Saint Cichol and all the others. It seems like a waste of time to me.”

“For now, while the topic is simple,” she agrees with him, “But do you not think that perhaps when the subject becomes more complicated, having a firm grasp of the basics may help you?”

Wally’s foot starts tapping as he thinks over her question, and finally gives her an answer, “Can’t I just be a bow knight? I’m sure Artemis can teach me how to use a bow in no time.”

“Your aim is terrible, as is your patience,” Barbara argues, “I’m not against you changing your goals, but you have to give me a better reason than what appears to be laziness.”

“What about a great knight?” Wally counters, “That doesn’t require much accuracy, I can totally learn how to wield an axe.”

“You don’t have the strength for it, and it doesn’t play to your best ability, which is speed. Great knights are powerful but at the cost of slower movement thanks to all the armor they have to carry. Do you really want that, Wally?” She asks him, “I’d suggest Wyvern Rider, but you don’t do well with heights from what I’ve been told.”

“What about Dick? I haven’t heard about what he’s doing, and I know he’s not going to be a Great Knight. Let me do that!” Wally continues his arguing and Barbara blinks twice before she realises he isn’t aware why Dick hasn’t mentioned what he’s studying. It seemed obvious to everyone else.

“Oh, I see what this is…” Barbara trails off, “You’re worried about becoming back up or a healer rather than a fighter on the frontlines. Well, I can’t put you on the same path as Dick considering his exams are exclusive to Faerghus royalty, but I can tell you that anyone who would put you anywhere but the frontlines would be making a great mistake. Have some faith, Wally. I promise this will work out in the end.”

Wally groans but he seems to let go of the subject for now, “Fine, but if I’m not on the frontlines next time I’m going to get super bored and probably mess things up for everyone… I trust you’re doing the right thing… for now.”


	7. Tearing Through Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor helps Kory out of a sticky situation, Tim fails to avoid Dick, Wally pries into Artemis' past and Kory and Rose fight.

Coming into the monastery, Barbara didn’t know what to expect at all. Would the classes be terrifying? Would her students hate her? Would she have to prove herself before she even got any respect from them? Luckily, none of those things came true. The classes were quite easy for to teach as the students listened to her lectures intently, they all seemed to appreciate her in one way or another and there were maybe a couple of people here who didn’t give her the respect she believed she deserved but she saw them rarely enough for it not to bother her.

What she didn’t know, was just how boring exams were. Of course, that wasn’t the case for the students, each of which showed various degrees of stress. Wally, Dick and Zatanna looked focused, but calm, solving each question quickly and moving onto the next one with ease. Rose, Victor and Artemis were completely unreadable, although Barbara was certain the three of them would definitely pass. Kory, Tim and Bette on the other hand looked like they were ready to tear their hair out. The exam wasn’t hard, and Barbara knew them well enough to know they all put the effort in and studied, but with so much pressure put on them the three students felt like their life depended on it.

Barbara couldn’t even fully understand why. They were able to take as many resits as they needed anyway, so long as they passed the exams over the course of their year of studies.

She decides that since she can’t talk to the students she might as well open up a book Karen recommended her on the four saints so she could familiarise herself better with the Church of Seiros. It wasn’t as bad as she expected, the fights brought up every now again being somewhat interesting.

The greatest one of all seemed to take place in the Tailtean plains with the help of the four saints, Cichol, Cethleann, Macuil and Indech and ten elites, against the King of Liberation, Nemesis…

Was that the battle she dreamt about? The woman described as Seiros shared many similarities with the woman in her dream, and she recognised the name Nemesis despite not knowing anyone going by that name in person. Perhaps she’d heard the legend long ago already and being surrounded by the Church now only reminded her subconscious mind of it.

She continues to read further, about how each of the elites, Blaiddyd, Gautier, Frauldarius, Charon, Lamine, Riegan, Goneril, Dominic, Gloucester and Daphnel was granted a crest and a relic for their efforts in the war, as well as territory in various parts of what was then still the Adrestian Empire.

“Professor?” Victor asks, breaking her attention away from the book. He stands over her desk with his exam in hand, “I finished. Where should I put this?”

Barbara takes the paper from him and nods, “Well done. You may leave if you want to. I’ll have your results in time for class tomorrow.”

When Victor turns around, she returns back to the book, finding herself surprisingly enraptured by its contents.

* * *

Shouting from the kitchen has Victor alarmed when he approaches the dining hall an hour after his exam. He rushes in to make sure nothing serious was happening and inside finds Kory covered in some kind of sauce, “What happened?”

“I… I do not know,” Kory replies with a horrified look on her face. She tries to take the ladle out from her pot, but it sticks to the pan and refuses to move, “I was attempting to make a Tamaranian dish for today, but I am not the greatest cook. Perhaps I should not have been so ambitious.”

Victor looks around and hands her a rag to try and get at least some of the sauce out from her hair, “I’ll clean up in here, you go wash that off before it sticks to your hair and you have no choice but to cut it off. Then we can work out what went wrong together.”

Kory shakes her head, but she accepts the rag, “No, it is my fault, I should not leave you to do the cleaning on your own when so far you have offered me only help.”

“I don’t mind,” Victor shrugs as he moves the pan from the stove and into a sink, “I have nothing else to do right now… but you’re still not convinced,” he judges from her expression, “How about in exchange you teach me how to make the dish?”

“Tamaranian cooking is quite particular…” Kory’s face cringes a bit as she speaks, “Are you quite certain you wish to learn it? It is said that much of it is pungent, especially to those used to Fodlan cooking.”

As she tries to wipe some of the goop from her hair, Victor begins to wash the pot, “I like cooking, and part of that means expanding my horizons beyond what Fodlan has to offer in terms of food. I don’t care if it smells bad, it’ll be a new experience and I can improve what I can already make. So, will you please go wash your hair so I can start cleaning up this mess?”

“Very well, I will be happy to teach you if that is indeed what you want,” Kory smiles at him and puts the rag down on a nearby counter, before she leaves to wash the sauce that got far too caught up in her hair to simply rub it off with a rag.

* * *

“Congratulations,” Barbara announces when she reaches her desk the next day. She pulls out the papers she received from all of her students from the pile of books she normally carried around with her and moves them to the front, “You all passed. I have your exams here all marked, so if you wish to see them, I can give them to you at the end of class.”

She sets everything down onto her desk before turning to her students, “The intermediate certification exams take place in two months’ time. I’ve been watching all of you over our last couple of battles and during training and I believe I’ve picked out the right class for each of you. Tim, Wally, Dick, the three of you will be taking the cavalier exams. You’re all quite proficient with a lance but for this you’ll need to work on riding as well. It will allow for quicker movement on the battlefield and the chance to retreat from a fight if necessary.”

The three of them all take note of it without posing any questions.

“Next, Kory,” she moves onto her next student, “You’ve been working on both your sword skills and your black magic, but I’ve decided that for now you’ll be working towards the mage class. Zatanna, I don’t think it should come as a surprise that I think you’ll be best suited to the priest class, however I’d like for you to start working on black magic as well. We can’t predict how the enemy will act and having the chance to strike them back should you need it may prove useful.”

The girls nod back, with Zatanna writing down her own goals to keep them in mind.

“Artemis, Victor, Rose, you’ll be working on the archer, armoured knight, and mercenary classes respectively,” Barbara says as she checks her list just to make sure, “I don’t think any of those should come as a surprise either, although I would like you to work on your black magic too, Rose.”

“Finally, Bette,” Barbara says as she walks over to the girl, “You will be working towards the Pegasus knight class. Since no one else will be training as a flying class, I’ll be accompanying you. That shouldn’t bother you, should it?”

Bette shakes her head, expression showing clear concern for what her teacher was getting her into, “If anything it’s comforting. I don’t know how ready I am to fly and fight if I’m being honest… but I’ll be sure to surpass even you!”

Barbara smiles and walks back to the front, “Well, if none of you have any issues with your certifications, I’ll move onto today’s one. I’d like to talk to you all about leading battalions today…”

* * *

Tim takes longer than usual to eat his lunch today, so he expects the training grounds to be already full of other students just as eager as him to get a head start on his studies. Which is why in the end he takes his professors advice and heads to the stables instead, to find a horse and practice riding. Being born a noble meant that he already knew how to both fight and ride a horse at the same time, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to practice these last couple of years and fears he may have forgotten.

When he walks inside, he finds the one person he had definitely, under no circumstances whatsoever been trying to avoid since their fight, but it’s too late when the other waves him over, “Tim, I see you’re wasting no time in getting ready for our exams.”

“Definitely not,” Tim answers back, “What are you doing here, Dick? I thought you normally stayed at the training grounds. It’s where we all say to find you when someone asks where you are.”

Dick chuckles and shakes his head, “I actually wanted to get a head start too. I have some free time this month and I don’t know how long that’ll last so I thought I might try and get some hours in riding. Do you want to join me?”

Tim shakes his head, “Actually… I think I’m fine on my own.”

Dick hums and narrows his eyes as he observes Tim’s posture. After a few seconds, he turns away from him and sighs, “Have I done something to hurt you, Tim? You haven’t talked to me since the two of us duelled. Did I underestimate my strength again?”

Tim quickly shakes his head and waves his hands in front of him, “No! No, you didn’t hurt me physically… well you kind of did but it was all just bruises and they’ve long since healed. Just… I didn’t think it’s something I’d think about again, but do you remember that rebellion in the west?”

“Our first battle fighting side by side,” Dick recalls, “It was one of the first real battles I was sent to after the tragedy of Duscur. What about it?”

“You want me to be honest, right?” Dick nods and Tim struggles to find the best phrasing for a little while, “I know you were angry with a lot of people, and rightly so… but I’ve never seen something so horrifying in my life. You were taking the opponent down like you had nothing to lose. You were killing them all without any hesitation, without even recognising that it was human life. It was the first ever battle I took part in, so maybe I’m misremembering it but-.”

“You’re right,” Dick cuts him off, “All I had in me was hate and anger, and I was directing it at them. That person on the battlefield that day… he wasn’t human, just an ugly monster that reared its head at the enemy and ruthlessly killed them all.”

“But… he’s gone now, right? And I shouldn’t have thought you’d still be the same person two years later,” Tim thinks out loud, but Dick leaves the stables without any confirmation or denial.

“I’ll stay out of your way, Tim, if that gives you any comfort.”

* * *

“There you are, professor,” Karen calls out to her while Barbara watches the fish in the nearby pond. She doesn’t move away and simply waits for the advisor to approach her, “We have your next mission for this month. We’ve sent out some knights to deal with an uprising by the western church. They’re a branch of the Church of Seiros in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. They should be able to deal with most of the damage however we’d like to send you in as possible reinforcements. We can’t let these heretics escape.”

Barbara nods, “I’ll make sure the Blue Lions remain on standby. Anything else?”

“You should speak to your students about this mission,” Karen requests, “They’re from the Kingdom so they might know a little more than we do about the matter. That is all,” with that, the advisor walks back in the direction from which she came, and Barbara returns to her fish.

It’s not long when she’s interrupted again and she feels the familiar presence of a man who she grew up next to as he perfected his sneaking skills, “Bruce. I suppose you heard all of that?”

“You should speak with Zatanna,” Bruce informs her, “It’s her father who’s gotten caught up in all of this, and Dinah has already called for his execution.”

“Can’t the regent king put a stop to this?” Barbara asks, turning around. Surely, they couldn’t be happy with the Church messing with their affairs like this, “I know Dick wouldn’t allow it.”

“You don’t even know anything about him,” Bruce argues but shakes his head, “Regardless, it wouldn’t make a difference. The regent king won’t want to sacrifice the Kingdom’s relationship with the Church over one rogue noble who’s causing harm to people within his territory. His Highness might not like it, but he’d agree with this.”

Barbara looks back over to the pond and sighs, “I’ll see what I can do. There’s more you want to tell me, isn’t there?”

“Lady Kate will be coming with you on this mission,” He informs her, “She’s an old friend of mine, but she’s not the kind to bring it up. She’s one of the few people here I know you can trust.”

“Oh… meaning I’m being watched for my performance by someone Dinah can rely on too?” She asks and Bruce nods once as a reply, “It’ll be the first time I’ll be working with one of the knights. Are they all as bad as that Clark guy?”

“Most of them,” he warns her, “But you’re lucky because Kate is different. She’s no nonsense, she doesn’t care for your personal affairs and is only focused on the mission at hand. She’s also tough and won’t hesitate to berate you for any mistakes you might make.”

“I can handle that. I’ve had to deal with you all of my life anyway,” She chides at him with a smile. Bruce doesn’t look the least bit impressed, “Is that all? Or is there something else you’d like to tell me?”

“I was right about him,” Bruce keeps going, “You need to keep an eye out on your house leader.”

“He isn’t weak, he can take care of himself.”

Bruce shakes his head, “Physically he’s more than capable, and that’s what I’m worried about. Once he snaps, I’m not sure there’s anything that’ll stop him, including reason. But after looking into both the imperial princess and the future sovereign duke, maybe he’ll be the least of your concerns.”

* * *

“Well hello there, Artemis,” Wally says as he passes her in the corridor, “I was wondering where I might find you and here you show up out of nowhere.”

“What could you possibly want from me?” Artemis asks, putting a hand on her hip, “Don’t you have women to seduce or something? Trying that out on me is just a waste of time and will result in you getting hurt.”

Wally rolls his eyes at her and folds his arms, “Okay so I see you have the wrong impression of me. I’m not always chasing after women, you know, I have other interests besides that. Like finding out how exactly you got in here when no one even knows where you came from.”

“You’re a commoner too, Wally,” Artemis points out in an annoyed tone, “You know it’s easy enough to figure out how I got in. Besides, I’m not the only one. There’s tons more students like us around.”

“I got in through hard work and skill,” Wally explains, “I worked hard to earn the money to get me here and was lucky enough that one of the Knights of Seiros caught me practicing one day.”

“Do you really want to know?” Artemis asks him and he eagerly nods his head, “I had a competition with Sir Oliver one day, won, and he recommended me. That’s it.”

“No it isn’t!” Wally shouts at her, “That’s not your story because that’s totally _my_ story! You can’t just steal my own story! And it wasn’t Sir Oliver, it was my uncle! You can’t just lie to me like that.”

Artemis shrugs and walks past him, “Well, I just did. I don’t owe you anything, West, especially not the story of how I got here. If you really want to find out, you’ll have to put in a little bit more effort than that. I’m sure even you can put the pieces together… but maybe I’m overestimating your skills.”

“That’s cold,” Wally replies, feeling a little defeated and a lot worse about himself, “But you know what? I’ll do it. I-if you don’t actually mind. I don’t want to end up exposing you or anything… I’m just curious, that’s all.”

“Oh…” Artemis turns around, “You’re… not? I thought you were doing this to prove I’m an awful person.”

“Are you?” Wally asks but he shakes his head, “It doesn’t matter, even if you were, your actions here speak for themselves. I just… don’t like not knowing things. Even if you’re a demon who crawled out from the eternal flames, I don’t plan on telling anyone.”

Artemis pauses, looking away from Wally so she can process everything he just said. Was it possible that he was actually telling the truth? That he really didn’t care about her background save for knowing what it was? That couldn’t be possible, “You don’t know what you’re saying. I can’t run away from my past forever, and I know it’ll be revealed one day so I won’t stop you but… thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt at least,” she turns around once more and walks down the corridor in the direction she was originally headed in.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

* * *

As she searches the monastery for her students, or more specifically, for Zatanna, Victor joins her and walks alongside as she searches for her, “This isn’t going to be a pleasant conversation you know. I appreciate the concern you have for her, but it’ll probably take some time.”

Victor shakes his head and continues walking in step with her, “I don’t want to offend you professor, but if you see her on your own she’ll think you’re doing this out of courtesy or for the sake of the mission, not for her benefit. If she has someone there that she knows it might be easier on her.”

“I wasn’t aware you knew her so well,” Barbara raises an eyebrow, “I suppose you’ve been with Dick in the royal palace for some time now and she is a high ranking noble.”

“I… know her,” Victor admits, “But we didn’t have the chance to build much of a relationship. His Highness brought me to the palace and made sure that no one harmed me there, but he still couldn’t stop the whispers and rumours about me, so any time someone visited from outside the court I stayed out of the way. His Highness still introduced me to his friends but unless he absolutely needed me there, I usually found an excuse to be elsewhere at the time.”

Barbara’s expression falls, feeling pity for the man who was in no way at fault for how he was being treated. She’d seen it even here at the monastery. Any time something would go missing, even something as small as a pan, she’d hear whispers about how it must have been the doing of the man of Duscur, “I hope you don’t feel that way here anymore… mostly. I’m aware that some of the knights here still don’t think of you favourably, but I don’t think the Blue Lions necessarily hold it against you.”

“Most of them? No,” Victor agrees with her, “His Highness and Rose are two people I know I can rely on. Artemis doesn’t seem to care either way, I’m not sure just how much Wally even knows about the Tragedy of Duscur; as someone from a different country Kory understands what I face here every day, Zatanna has her own opinions about Duscur but doesn’t think I should be blamed for any of it… Tim and Bette… they had someone close to them die on the battlefield. Tim doesn’t think it’s my fault, but he’s admitted to me that he can’t help but remember that whenever he looks at me, Bette on the other hand… I don’t think you’ve noticed it, but she won’t talk to me unless absolutely necessary.”

“Perhaps I should talk to her and see-,” Barbara begins but she’s cut off- rather surprisingly by someone who’s only ever been polite with her and careful about who he acts- by Victor, who stops them both and looks over to the end of their path where Zatanna was sitting, overlooking the ground bellow the monastery, “Ah, thank you. I’ll try talking to her first if that’s alright.”

Victor agrees and stays a couple of steps behind her. Without asking, Barbara sits next to Zatanna as multiple Wyvern’s pass over them, “Zatanna, I have to speak to you about our next mission.”

“I already know,” she informs her without turning, “news about treachery spreads like wildfire among the nobles. I overheard the rumours already, but… I don’t think my father could be involved.”

“I’ve been told that our mission for this month is to help the knights quell the remainder of their rebellion,” Barbara informs her, “If your father is among them, I’ll have no choice but to follow the Knights of Seiros. I… I’m in no position to argue against them at the moment.”

Zatanna shake her head, tears building up in her eyes, “He’s being set up, I’m sure of it. The Knights will all realise when they confront him. Why would he oppose the Church, the Kingdom? My family has always supported both, since the Kingdom’s founding.”

“Perhaps he has reason to believe neither is the same institution he once believed in?” Barbara offers, but it only makes matters worse as the tears start pouring freely, “I’ll see what I can do to get to the bottom of this,” she rubs Zatanna’s back, trying what she can to console her. The mercenaries would be ashamed to cry openly like this, and Barbara would be too, so she’d never even had the chance to watch anyone shed a tear, let alone know how to console them in hard times. Was she supposed to hug them? Would that be too inappropriate?

Thankfully, Victor takes over from her and helps Zatanna off the bench, “We should let the professor do what she can to resolve this issue. Maybe we can find His Highness and have him join us for some tea?”

“I’d… I would like that… thank you,” Zatanna nods, but she turns back to ask her teacher one more thing, “Professor? I… I have to know what happens to my father, regardless of the outcome. Please, let me come on this mission.”

“If you believe that is for the best,” Barbara nods, “I’ll try to convince the others too if it comes down to it.”

* * *

Swords clash loudly in the train hall when they meet, bringing attention to the two girls fighting from all the students nearby. The fight is fierce, with neither girl letting up, but it’s decided when Rose loses her balance and Kory uses it to her advantage to knock her down. She points the blade at Rose’s throat, “Yield.”

Rose puts her hand to the flat side of the blade and moves it aside, “I yield,” she mutters, and the red headed girl moves her sword away. She extends her hand and helps Rose up.

“That was quite the battle,” Kory admits with a smile, wiping the sweat from her eyebrow, “It took all of my concentration and effort to not be bested by you. Despite having won in the end, I believe there is still much I need to work on.”

“You’re not the only one,” Rose says, a little bitter at the loss, “Sorry, I don’t take losing well. You were the better fighter after all, I shouldn’t be upset at you for winning.”

“It is understandable,” Kory nods, moving to the weapons rack to leave her sword there. She finds the rag that she left behind in the courtyard and uses it to wipe her face, “You aim to be the best swordswoman in all of Faerghus, and if I am winning against you then it means there is at least one more person standing in your way. It is frustrating, I am certain.”

“It sucks when you say you need to improve after beating me up,” Rose admits, reaching for her waterskin, “But we’re here to learn, so if anything I should hope I would still be losing to someone here. No point in learning from those you’ve already defeated.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Kory disagrees, “Perhaps it was mere luck that I won today, perhaps you are tired, perhaps the goddess wished it so. One training session will not determine which one of us is superior. Besides… I believe I could still learn from you. Your sword technique, it is different than the one taught in the Kingdom. I do not recognise it.”

“It’s Adrestian,” Rose tells her, “I… spent some time there, learned how to use a sword. It’s the style I’m most comfortable with, although I’m familiar with Faerghusian sword techniques too. My… there was a knight who taught me some of it, but it was Dick who put in the effort to teach me everything beyond the physical movements.”

“I see…” Kory trails off, “As I am unfamiliar with it, there are many ways you could surprise me in battle, as you have demonstrated during out fight. In which case, could you teach me these techniques?”

“You want me to teach you?” Rose asks and Kory nods eagerly, “I won’t do it completely for free though. You don’t fight like you’re from the Kingdom either. Those were Tamaranian manoeuvres, weren’t they?”

“Despite being the heir to House Anders, I preferred to stay there whenever I could,” Kory explains, “It was not often, but whenever I did visit, I made certain to keep its culture alive within me, including its fighting style. It appears that it has become quite useful in a land where no one is familiar with it.”

“The people of Fodlan are very ignorant of those outside their territory,” Rose agrees, “But I like to think I’m not one of them. Would it be possible for you to teach me? In exchange for what I know.”

“I would be delighted to!”


	8. Mutiny in the Mist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barbara does what she can to stop the Church forces from executing Zatanna’s father needlessly.  
> Victor and Zatanna talk, Dick indulges Bette and Tim confesses.

“Is it always this misty in the Kingdom?” Barbara asks her students as they walk through the field near castle Zatara, “I haven’t been in the Kingdom much, but every time I come the weather seems to be pretty terrible.”

“That’s Faerghus for you,” Wally tells her, his boots sinking into the mud below their feet with every step he makes, “Although we’re more to the south here, so it gets a bit warmer here. Fhirdiad though? I’ve heard that’s a different case entirely. You don’t want to be caught outside at night in the winter or you’ll freeze.”

Dick shakes his head, “It’s not quite that bad, but outsiders do complain quite frequently about it. If you’re cold, you should have dressed more appropriately,” he berates Wally, “We have a battle ahead of us, we can’t let you be distracted by the conditions.”

“Oh, I’m good,” Wally waves him off, “It’s not winter right now anyway… just saying it could be a little warmer considering spring is coming to an end… maybe I should just move somewhere warmer once I graduate from the academy?”

“Are you quite done?” Kate asks as she approaches them through the mist, “The knights have castle Zatara surrounded, although it was far easier than we anticipated. I’m still holding out for the possibility of an ambush… or hoping that we made a mistake after all.”

“Why would Lord Zatara rebel against the church in the first place?” Barbara asks. Kate glances over to Dick, then when he doesn’t answer, over to Barbara.

“The church executed his wife after we uncovered her involvement in the tragedy of Duscur. Supposedly, she had tipped off the people of Duscur where and when King John’s carriage would be,” Kate explains, “I’m… somewhat sceptical myself, but I’m not here to question my orders, merely to follow them.”

Dick shakes his head, “If the rumours are true, then I’d have probably followed through that execution order myself… but I still would’ve wanted some more time to look into the case. Perhaps she could have led us to the individuals that burned everything to the ground that day.”

Kate shakes her head, “The church did what they thought was best for you at the time. She was a traitor, and as the last bearer of the crest of Blaiddyd you should know how valuable your own life is.”

“Until I have an heir,” Dick mumbles as if he’d already heard the lecture hundreds of times, “This conversation isn’t getting us anywhere. Are we going to storm castle Zatara or is your plan to go into this more diplomatically? What’s our plan of attack?”

One of the knights runs to them at that moment, silencing the students, “It’s Zatara! He used the mist as a cover and his army has us surrounded now. Lady Kate, we don’t have time to wait for reinforcements.”

“Then the students will have to do,” she looks to Barbara as she readies her lance- it glows brightly in her hands as she wields it, a red stone embedded in it so that the yellowed material it was surrounded by formed the tip of the lance, “Professor, prepare for battle.”

Her students all ready their respective weapons, but it’s not them she worried for. She looks back at Zatanna and joins her in the rear, “I won’t let anyone hurt your father. We’ll explain this once the battles over.”

“Thank you, professor,” Zatanna replies softly, balls of fire appearing in her hands, “I’m ready to fight the Western Church, the true enemy here today.”

Out from the fog emerge three lancers, two swordsmen and a bowman, ready to shoot at the group, “They have us surrounded! Light the torches!” She shouts to the few knights she has with them, whose light make it a little easier to see the soldiers in front of them.

Except, to Barbara’s horror, these weren’t soldiers in armour, skilfully wielding weapons. These were regular villagers holding whatever weapon they managed to get their hands on, some of them barely older than her own students. She grips her sword tightly, knowing she can’t back down now, “Tim, Bette, Rose, frontlines!” she shouts at the three, who get into position and charge the enemy.

Tim runs at one of the lancers manages to swipe his lance hard enough against the other to knock it out of his opponents hands, then immediately drives it through his body. Next to him, Rose slashes at the lancer facing her, quickly hitting him in the chest before he can even block the attack.

Bette takes care of the last lancer, throwing her spear at him and driving the weapon through his neck, “They can barely even fight back…” she whispers.

Without needing to be told to do so, Zatanna runs to the bowman and throws two fireballs at him. They set fire to him, causing the man to drop his bow, and Artemis takes the opportunity to shoot and kill him.

Once the lancers are dealt with, Kory runs in and shoots fireballs at both of the swordsmen. She hits one right in the chest, burning right through him and killing him on the spot, but the other manages to dodge the attack and runs at her with his sword held high.

Barbara runs in, blocking his attack on Kory. She jumps back in time for Victor to run in and slam down his axe on the swordsman’s head. He turns around to check for any incoming attacks but finds someone missing from their group, “Where is His Highness? Did you send him somewhere?”

Barbara shakes her head, looking around and only finding Kate and her knights fighting off 3 axe wielders, “Wally’s gone too. They must have disappeared into the… huh?” as she’s about to say it, the fog starts to lift, clearing their view of the battlefield. Not too far from them, Dick takes his lance out from a mage, who crumples to the ground when there’s nothing left to support his dead body.

Wally stands behind him, “I knew there was something weird with the fog, it didn’t seem natural. At least now we can see our enemy.”

The battlefield is almost cleared, their few enemies laying dead before them, with only Lord Giovanni standing at the back, flames appearing in both of his hands.

“Father!” Zatanna shouts, “Please! Whatever you issue with the Central Church, I’m certain it can be resolved peacefully! Please, don’t do this!”

“The time for peaceful resolutions is over, Zatanna!” He shouts back across the field, “the Central Church made that very clear when they executed your mother on baseless accusations! If it’s a war they want, then a war I will give them!”

He throws fire in Kate’s direction, and while a few of her knights take damage, she manages to jump to the side. She runs at her enemy, lance glowing brightly with power. When she nears her enemy, dodging his magic, she slashes down. She misses at first, but Lord Giovanni has no time to recover when she slashes up and cuts him right across his chest.

“Father!” Zatanna shouts and runs over in their direction. The man falls to the ground, and with him no longer posing a threat, Kate moves her lance away. When Zatanna reaches her, she holds the girl back.

“Zatanna, be careful. You heard what he just said!”

“I don’t care!”

Back with the group, Wally and Bette look around at the bodies surrounding them, “The Church was really okay with this?” Bette asks, “This wasn’t even an equal fight, it was a slaughter… was this so necessary?”

Babs shakes her head, “It’s… these are the realities of war.”

“But we’re not at war!” Wally shouts back at her, but stops when Dick steps in to speak with Barbara

“I have to check on Zatanna,” Dick says once Lord Giovanni no longer moves on the ground. Barbara hadn’t even noticed it, but as soon as he was defeated, Kate had her escorted away from the scene. The girl deserved to say goodbye to her father one last time, but not like this.

“I’ll join you,” Barbara agrees and walks with him to where the knights were beginning to gather, presumably, near their leader. In the middle of the crowd, Barbara finds Kate and Zatanna, one holding onto the arm of the other, “We’ll take it from here, Lady Kate,” Barbara tells her, and at the mere glare of their leader, the knights of Seiros disperse.

Dick and Barbara approach the distraught girl, who shut her eyes tightly and shakes her head, “We… it wasn’t just my dad… there were civilians, families there too…” she trails off, “We… I killed those I used to see on a daily basis… I’m a monster.”

“You’re not a monster. It was our duty,” Dick tries his hand in consoling her first, “If we didn’t fight them, who knows how many more people would’ve been hurt? Or what would have happened to the other people here if we left the job only to the Knights of Seiros. I hate it, but it’s the best alternative.”

“I don’t regret coming here,” Zatanna opens her eyes and stops shaking her head, “But… I still don’t understand what drove my father to throw such accusations at the Church? My mother’s death couldn’t have been the sole reason… I…” she looks back to where Kate was interrogating some of the villagers that had survived, “I have to find out, please professor?”

“I’ll leave the decision to Kate for how much she’s willing to let you in on this,” Barbara agrees and watches as Zatanna walks back in the direction of the knight. Dick, however, stays by her side.

“I never killed civilians before,” Dick’s statement turns her back in his direction, “I fought quite often, but that was against trained soldiers, bandits, thieves, those who knew how to properly defend themselves or deserved punishment, but I… well I guess in the eyes of the Church these are criminals but…”

“They were fighting for their beliefs?” Barbara asks and Dick nods back in reply, “As I said, it’s the realities of war. You don’t always choose who you meet on the battlefield. It can be a skilled soldier, or a mere child.”

“What?” Dick furrows his eyebrows, “You can’t still believe that’s true. You’re saying that there’s any circumstance that exists where it would be fine to kill children!?” Barbara stares back blankly at him, until eventually he sighs and lowers his voice, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to have that outburst. Just… if I could make the calls in this situation, I would have at least attempted some diplomacy, maybe a compromise. Anything to avoid this pointless bloodshed… but even when I become king, I’m not sure I’d be able to stop something like this.”

“It’s your territory,” Barbara states, end of her sentence going up as if forming a question, “Surely you could’ve stopped this if you were the leader?”

Dick shakes his head, “The Kingdom has always been close to the Church, as I told you before. I might disagree with them, but it’s a relationship I can’t destroy so easily. This is a Church matter, so the Church resolved it,” he catches sight of Kate coming back in their direction, Zatanna staying behind to speak with the villagers, “We can discuss this at a later date if you want,” he says quietly so she doesn’t overhear.

“I don’t mean to interrupt you, but there’s something you should see,” Kate says and shows them both a letter, “It’s a letter to Lord Giovanni, detailing the plans about an assassination on Lady Dinah. The contents are… questionable at best, but considering what just happened, we shouldn’t ignore it either. I’ll ride ahead and report this to her at once. You’re okay dealing with you students, right?”

* * *

A couple of hours after their return from the Kingdom, Victor knocks on Zatanna’s door, expecting her to be inside. After everyone took off their armour, left their weapons behind and left for the baths, they all agreed to have dinner together, and it didn’t miss anyone’s attention that she wasn’t present. Dick had offered to visit her, but Victor wasn’t sure that the prince of the nation that had just helped kill her father was the person she would want to see right now.

Not that his vassal was much better.

“Who is it?” Zatanna’s voice answers, a little rasp.

“It’s Victor,” he answers, “I wanted to make sure how you were holding up. Would it be alright if I came in?”

“…I’m not really in a state to be seen.”

“I can stay outside your door?” Victor asks, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be completely alone right now.”

“I can’t stop you,” the door answers, her voice a little closer to the door. He hears a thump against the door, and follows her lead, taking a seat against it himself, “This may sound a little strange, but I’m glad it’s you who came. No one told you to, right?”

“His Highness offered to see you himself, but I stopped him and said I’d come see you,” Victor explains, leaning his head against the door, “Why did you want it to be me to see you… uh… hear you?” He corrects himself.

“Well… I know you, kind of,” Zatanna replies, “I can’t face Dick, not right now, and Tim and Bette don’t know what it’s like to lose those so close to you. You lost everyone during the Tragedy, I knew you’d be able to understand what I’m going through.”

“I did,” Victor agrees, “I was lost after that, I can’t say your experiences are the same as mine, but four years ago I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. My life was ripped from me along with everyone I ever knew and I was in a place where I didn’t understand the people or the culture… but once I realised I couldn’t change what had happened, I started making small goals for myself, things to keep me occupied every day.”

“Like what?” Zatanna asks, voice a little improved. He still hears her sniffling, but her voice had cleared up from what he last heard.

“His Highness gave me a room in the palace, it was empty, so my first goal was to make it my own, give myself something I knew was mine,” Victor starts to list off, “After that, I wanted to learn to fight, so I asked his Highness to teach me sword techniques. We trained and set goals. I can’t tell you the pain ever goes away, nor do I think you should immediately be expected to leave your room, but whenever you’re ready for it, the Blue Lions are all here to help you.”

The other side of the door remains silent for a little while, and Victor thinks that maybe he should be concerned or maybe he should leave her alone, but her throat clears and she replies, “Thank you… would it be too much of a bother right now to ask you to get me some books?” She slides a list under the door and Victor picks it up, “I think I’ll need the distraction for tonight.”

“I’ll be right back.”

* * *

The next morning, Barbara makes sure to show up to Karen’s office as early as possible. She didn’t feel like giving a report after all that had happened, and luckily for her Kate was willing to take over for her at least the day before. She knew Karen would chase her down sooner or later, so she knocks at her door and enters when she’s told to do so, “Good morning, Karen. I apologise for not coming to see you sooner, considering the urgency of the situation.”

Karen shakes her head and offers for Babs to take a seat in the chair across from her desk, “Barbara, you know I wasn’t content with you joining us here at the academy at first, but you’ve since proven yourself. You don’t need to walk around on eggshells. Lady Kate informed me that the students were reluctant about this particular mission, and considering you were tasked with executing the father of one of your students, I understand _your_ reluctance to come and give your report. So I’ll spare you.”

Barbara releases a sigh she didn’t even realise she was holding in when Karen treats her much better than she had before. Should she be worried? Maybe this assassination thing was way more serious than she thought, “Kate found a letter detailing an attempt on Lady Dinah’s life.”

“It’s unlikely to happen,” Karen reassures her, “The Goddess’ Rite of Rebirth is the date given, and we’ve always had increased security around that time. The Knights of Seiros return from all of their missions unless they are unable to, and throughout the ceremony we are confined in the Goddess Tower. The plan seems far fetched at best. That being said, your mission for this month will be to stay vigilant and deal with any would-be assassins should it be necessary.”

“I’ll investigate and see what I can find out,” She offers and stands up, “I assume that’s all? If it is then I’ll return to my regular teaching duties.”

“That’s all,” Karen nods at the door, “That being said, I believe I can hear His Highness on the other side of the door, waiting to tell you about his own thoughts on this mission. Give him my best, will you, professor?”

Barbara rolls her eyes and walks over to the closed door, “I’ll try to,” when she walks out, she finds him waiting for her on the other side, just as Karen had promised, “It’s rude to eavesdrop, you know. One day, you’re going to hear something you don’t like.”

“I already have,” Dick furrows his eyebrows, “I agree with her, the assassination isn’t real, but I don’t think the person who wrote this letter ever planned on killing the archbishop,” he looks back at the door, “But I’d rather not discuss this out here in the open. The classroom isn’t being used right now, and I’ve already asked Victor and Rose to join us there.”

Barbara shakes her head, “It’s something we need to discuss as soon as possible, but we can’t keep this between ourselves. We don’t have any classes scheduled for today, so please, just rest for today, you, Rose and Victor.”

“I… fine,” Dick trails off and leaves her, walking back to the classroom alone, where not only does he find Victor and Rose waiting for him, but Bette appears too, “Bette? What are you doing here?”

“I saw Victor and Rose in here even though we don’t have classes and I knew the three of you were scheming!” She points an accusing finger at Dick, “Come on, I thought you just wanted to be one of us here, Dick. That’s pretty hard to achieve if you’re going to shut us all out like this.”

Dick shakes his head and looks over to Victor and Rose, “The professor won’t be joining us today, so you’re both free for the day,” with a nod, they both leave the classroom and go in their separate direction, giving the other two some time to chat, “I’m not shutting you out intentionally, I was just hoping to get ahead of the current situation by discussing strategy with the professor. Considering we have the day off, I didn’t want to bother anyone.”

“You didn’t think you’d bother Victor and Rose?”

“I think I would’ve bothered them if I _didn’t_ invite them,” Dick explains further, “If you really wanted to be invited to something this trivial-.”

“Yeah, I do!” Bette insists, “Come on, please? Even if I’m just here to watch or something. It sucks being left out like this.”

“This isn’t just about today, is it?” Dick asks her, “Margrave Kane still hasn’t been inviting you to meetings or training, has he?”

Bette shakes her head, “I know that since Kate and I share a crest, she can wield Luin as much as I can but… well, she left the nobility, but it still doesn’t feel like I’m the rightful heir. It’s always her who’s sent on important missions or her who’s asked to settle feuds in our territory. I’ve never even been asked to shadow her. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do in those moments! How am I supposed to be the heir of House Kane when I don’t even know what my duties as margrave could be?”

“I see…” Dick says, rubbing his chin in thought, “House Grayson has many issues of its own, considering our own vast territory and the job of overlooking the rest of the Kingdom. Sometimes my uncle asks me to deal with issues to teach me, even though most of the time it’s not something a king would be sent to do. How about you accompany me on one of these missions? The diplomacy involved will be pretty much the same as what House Kane deals with.”

“Huh, well if you think it’s similar then there’s no reason to turn you down,” Bette thinks it over, “Alright, just don’t forget about me, okay?”

* * *

The next day everyone shows up to class, so when Barbara makes it to the front of her desk, she turns to her students to speak with them about their mission, “This moon is the Goddess’ Rite of Rebirth, however, we’ve received information about an assassination plot on the archbishop. As a result, everyone’s mission for this month is to remain vigilant during this moon, especially on the day of the event.”

Artemis raises her hand to bring attention to herself and tells them about her doubts, “Doesn’t this all seem a little obvious? The Western Church must’ve known we’d find that letter considering how easy it was to fight them without even a full army.”

“I agree,” Kory nods, “This assassination plot sounds like a trick to bring the attention away from something else. All of the Knight of Seiros will be busy protecting Lady Dinah after all.”

Barbara sighs, “I’ve been given permission to investigate, but our mission is still to protect her. That being said, if we find enough evidence pointing to the true intentions of our enemy, maybe I could convince Karen to change our objective.”

“What will you have us do then?” Wally asks, “Regardless it sounds like we’ll be protecting something, so will we be training the same way as usual?”

“For now, yes,” Barbara nods, bringing a hand to her chin, “In between classes, I would appreciate it if you could all keep an eye and ear out for any rumours or suspicious activity in the area. Until then, we’ll be practicing for any forms of attack.”

“We also have our intermediate exams coming up…” Tim trails off, “Won’t we need to take that into consideration? I don’t want to dismiss the seriousness of the situation, but I assume once this is all over then classes will resume regularly.”

“You’re right,” Barbara nods, “Which is why I’m not telling you to specifically look for clues, only to let me know if you happen to hear anything. I’ll be conducting a full investigation myself, hopefully with some help from the knights. You should all focus on your exams instead.”

Once the briefing is over, Barbara’s class goes fairly smoothly, her students showing a clear sign of progress through their knowledge on combat manoeuvres and strategies. Her students all leave the class with smiles on their faces, chatting away about how training went and how they think they’ll do on their next exams. All except Tim, who walks to the front of the class and tries to get Barbara’s attention, “Um, professor? Do you have some time to speak?”

“I have the rest of the day off, yes,” she replies, “However, if this is a longer discussion, could we take it somewhere else? We’ve already spent the whole day in here after all.”

“We can go to the cathedral?” Tim suggests, “It’s quite peaceful, and a lot more different from this place… unless you’d rather we didn’t?”

“The cathedral is fine,” with their sights set on the cathedral, Barbara leaves her pile of books on her desk and makes a mental note to swing by the classroom to pick them up on her way to her dorm room. Once her desk is organised, she follows Tim outside and left, crosses a bridge and steps into the grand cathedral of the monastery. She’d been here already a couple of times before but never had the opportunity to truly take it in. She wasn’t a religious woman- how could she be when she only recently learned about a goddess and all of the surrounding legends, but the building by itself was impressive. Statues of the saints stood at the end, with priests and students and knights standing around or sitting in the pews, praying or quietly discussing matters.

“Are you sure it’s fine for us to talk here?” Barbara asks him quietly, “Won’t the priests be upset?”

Tim shakes his head, “As long as we’re not shouting and we don’t talk should a ceremony start, we’re fine. Sometimes people come here specifically to speak to someone. It’s harder to hide the truth or act out in the eyes of the goddess after all.”

“Should I be concerned then?”

“No,” Tim shakes his head once again, “For me it’s just a matter of comfort… because what I wanted to talk to you about is a pretty serious issue I’ve been facing myself with and it’s not been easy for me to talk about it. You’ve heard of the tragedy of Duscur before, haven’t you?”

“It’s the massacre that occurred after the king of Faerghus was killed,” Barbara summarises, “Victor and Dick spoke to me about it in varying degrees of details. Is there something else I should know?”

“I wasn’t there,” Tim begins, leading them to one of the benches near the back of the cathedral. He takes a seat and only continues when Barbara does the same, “I was only 11 at the time so of course I wouldn’t be… but a couple of my closest friends were unfortunate enough to be caught up in the whole thing, including my older brother…”

“I wasn’t aware you had a brother.”

“I don’t… didn’t, not really,” Tim corrects himself, “His mother was a former noble, disinherited after she bore the child of a commoner. She fell ill soon after and died when he was young. My parents couldn’t stand by while this happened, so they took him in. Jason and I grew up like siblings, kind of… we weren’t particularly close, not at first, but we eventually we started to get along. He wanted to become a knight, so my father recommended him to the kingdom knights… and I think you know where this might be going.”

“He was sent to Duscur, wasn’t he?”

“Jason was supposed to stand beside Dick. He wasn’t his only guard, obviously, he wasn’t even older than the prince himself,” Tim looks away and down at the floor, “He lay down his life so that Dick could live. And well… after fighting the Western church, I haven’t stopped thinking about it. He’s been haunting me in my dreams, telling me I should’ve been there too, I should’ve fought alongside him.”

“You were eleven,” Barbara puts a hand on his shoulder as a comforting gesture, “As I understand it, Dick himself barely made it out alive. I don’t know Jason, but I’m certain if the two of you did come to an understanding, he wouldn’t have wanted you to pointlessly sacrifice your life like that.”

“I know that,” Tim runs a nervous hand through his head, “But if those guys out there were able to stand up and fight for their beliefs, no training and barely any armour, shouldn’t I have done the same? I hate it,” Tim looks to Barbara, “I know that me going there wouldn’t have changed a thing, or maybe even made it worse, but the damned chivalry I’ve been taught my whole life is screaming at me to think otherwise.”

“Chivalry is only as good as long as it can keep you alive,” Barbara says quietly, keeping her hand on his shoulder when he doesn’t move away from it, “I understand that Faerghus is a land that teaches it’s knights and nobility to fight and die in the name of your king and country, but those values are meaningless if you blindly jump into a battle with no skill or strength. It’ll be hard to unlearn that, but I’ll do what I can to keep your from pointlessly dying in battle. That much you can count on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m alive! So I had a seriously bad case of writers block because of the situation. I was making very little content and what I did write I found incredibly unsatisfying. Until yesterday when I stumbled upon some fanart that inspired me to write again for this!
> 
> I don’t know how often I’ll be updating. I have the next couple of chapters written for this already but we’ll see. Hopefully I don’t get another block for half a year


	9. Dwellings of the Ancient Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Vic talk about the future, Bette runs into Wally's room and Dick checks in on Rose after the exams

“Vic,” Rose says as she approaches him near the fishing pond in the academy, “Are you busy? I was hoping to get some advice from you,” she sits down next to him regardless as he keeps trying to catch some fish, “It’s about a personal matter.”

“Wouldn’t someone else be better for this?” He asks, gaze not turning away from the pond, “His Highness might have better insight into your personal matters than I do.”

“It’s not his approval I’m looking for,” she insists, “I already know what he’d tell me anyway. You’re his vassal just as I’m his guard. We’ve both dedicated our lives to him, so I thought you’d understand me better than anyone… None of the others even understand why we’ve given our lives over to him anyway.”

“Fine,” he reels in his bait and sets down the fishing rod between them, “But you did just say approval… so you think I’m going to turn down whatever it is you ask me already, right?”

“Sort of…” she trails off and observes the fish, “It’s my duty to become strong enough to lead the kings guard one day, and that’s always going to come first, but would it be completely selfish to have a life outside of that? I owe His Highness, I know that… but there’s other things in life I want to experience, things I need to experience.”

“Such as?”

“Love, friendship… family…” Rose lists off, “I’m not saying I want it now, or that I’ll always want it, but if I’m unhappy with my life, can I always remain focussed on the task at hand? Won’t there be a day where I’ll be distracted by all the things I could’ve had, or worse, blame him for being unable to get them?”

“You have your reasons for following him, I have mine,” Victor turns to her, “The tragedy of Duscur left me with no one, with nothing to return to, I lost everything that I loved there, friends and family alike, but His Highness saved me and gave me a place I could call home again… but you’re the opposite. You were rejected by your own family and never had a place to call home, it’s natural you’d want that for yourself. Personally, it’s my goal to remain by his side until the day he dies, but maybe one day that’ll change as well.”

“So pursuing anything outside of that is fine?” Rose asks him, “I don’t intend to leave him any time soon either, but I have to know that I have that option. I know His Highness wouldn’t hold it against me if I left even now, but I don’t think I could forgive myself, at least not until I’ve returned the favour.”

“It’s not selfish,” Victor shakes his head, “But it is something you should discuss with him. Not because you need his permission, as you’ve mentioned, he’d be more than happy to let you go, but I think he could give you some guidance on all of that.”

“Ha!” Rose laughs, “Yeah, I’m not doing that… but I think this conversation has given me a little more clarity, so thanks.”

“No problem.”

* * *

When the week’s classes are over, Dick finally gets the opportunity to have a look around the monastery for clues himself. He’d promised his professor, Victor and Rose that he’d pay attention in classes and study for his exams when they were over, so he did just that, not wanting to lag behind everyone else and set a bad example as a result, however, he did allow himself some free time, and that free time was going to be used to uncover the truth.

As soon as he’s finished with his breakfast, he seeks out his teacher and finds her in her dorm, door wide open while she looks at the board she had nailed up in her room, lists and notices pinned to it, “Professor?” He knocks on the open door regardless, “About last week… You know what? I’ll just be straightforward with it- I want to help you with your investigation. It’s my day off, the archbishop didn’t explicitly say I couldn’t and-.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” He repeats in the form of a question, before the actual message hits him, “Oh, I was expecting a lot more resistance. Are you sure?”

Barbara nods, closing the notebook she had in her hand, “I could use the help, and you’ve been doing very well in class and in the training grounds. Since you’re going to be in the group that defends Lady Dinah anyway, I don’t see any reason for you not to join me, other than perhaps spending some time with your friends.”

“I’ll… be sure to keep that in mind,” Dick says before walking into her room and looking at her board. She’d already made a list of who to speak with, but nothing specific about where the enemy might be looking to attack, “You think the Knights of Seiros might know something?”

“They’ve been here the longest, and they know what’s valuable, what the enemy might want from this place,” she informs him, “The priests won’t trust someone who doesn’t fully believe in their goddess, Karen and Dinah clearly don’t know anything, and while the students might’ve heard some rumours, I’m worried about how much of it might just be gossip. So, the Knights of Seiros it is. I’ve made a list of who we should speak with as well,” she pulls it off her board and gives it to him, “What do you think?”

“I think I shouldn’t come with you to some of these,” Dick mutters, “If Slade knows anything, he won’t tell you if I’m around.”

“Well, he has to,” Barbara takes her list back from him, “If he’s more mature than a child, he’ll know we’re doing this to protect the very person who’s currently allowing him to even stay here. If anything happens to her, he’s in more trouble than you will be. If he doesn’t understand that, we can inform him of it... through various methods if subtlety isn’t enough.”

“Devious,” Dick grins, “I’ll comply then, and won’t let my emotions get in the way. Who would you like to start with?”

“Sir Clark and Sir Barry,” she points to the top two names, “They’re both very kind so I’m sure they’ll tell us anything we need to hear without much coercing. What do you think?”

“They’re both knights from the Leicester Alliance,” he tells her, following her out of the dorm and towards the dining hall where he’d seen them just before leaving it himself, “They’re both very honest and have no reason that I know of to hide anything from us about this. Actually… I think Sir Barry is the reason Wally is in our class this year. I heard that the two had a competition of some kind and he won, so Barry recommended him for the academy.”

“But Wally’s from the Kingdom, that’s how he’s a Blue Lion, right? So how come he knew Barry?”

“Barry is his uncle,” Dick informs her, “But I think their families live on the border, the Allen’s in the Alliance, and the Wests in the kingdom. Even more reason for him to trust us, I guess,” as they walk through the doors of the dining hall, Barbara immediately surveys the area while Dick finds them quickly, sitting in the same place they were in just before he left, drinking coffee and laughing over something unintelligible from the distance between them. Dick guides Barbara over and the conversation pauses.

“Barbara!” Clark exclaims joyfully, “I’ve been hearing that you’ve been doing great as a professor so far! It’s not too drastic of a change from the mercenary life, is it? I hope it hasn’t put too much distance between you and your father.”

Barbara fakes a laugh and waves him off, “no, not at all. I don’t see him as often as I used to, but Bruce and I were never two to be particularly chatty anyway. I am enjoying my time here… but we do have this mission this month and Lady Dinah has asked me to look into it.”

“It is possible that Lady Dinah is the target, of course,” Dick continues from her, voice shifting from the more casual tone he’d been using around Barbara since getting to know her a little better, to something more formal. It was starting to slip Barbara’s mind that he actually had an image to maintain outside of the Blue Lions, “However we wanted to make sure the enemy doesn’t have ulterior motives. Is there anything valuable in the monastery that an enemy of the church would want? Anything even a common bandit would try to procure?”

Barry and Clark look between themselves, then turn back to the professor and the prince, “Well... there’s plenty of stuff to steal all over the place,” Barry points in the direction of the kitchen, “Even the kitchen has old bottles of wine and things like that worth quite a lot of money. Can’t say any one specific thing comes to mind though.”

“The kitchen is a potential target?” Dick concludes, “I see. Thank you very much for your time, we’ll be certain to let you know if we make a discovery. Come now, Professor,” he leads her back through the door they came in through and drops his formal demeanour once they’re out of sight, “The kitchen seems pretty unlikely if you ask me.”

Barbara agrees with him on that point, “Those wines could be stolen at any point in the year, no one’s going to try and get them when there’s so many knights around. The place is going to be full.”

“Let’s just keep asking around,” he leans closer to her and looks over her shoulder to check the list she held in her hand, “Sir Oliver is next? He’s actually distantly related to Roy, if you can believe it. He’s a good man too, although sometimes he doesn’t always know when it’s the right time to joke and when it isn’t.”

“Oh no...” Barbara trails off, “How long do you think getting an answer out of him will take?”

“It’ll be quick if we’re direct with him,” he replies, quick to set her worries aside, “If you’re worried though, I can keep him distracted while you go talk to some of the other knights, and we can reconvene at the end of the day, alright?”

“Is this your way to get out of speaking with certain knights?” Barbara raises an eyebrow playfully, “Fine, fine, I’ll talk to Slade myself, after that, meet me in the common room upstairs,” she leaves him to deal with Sir Oliver himself, and heads for the training grounds where she’s certain she’ll find the other knight.

Her instincts prove to be correct when she spots him training against a mannequin, “Sir Slade?” Barbara asks loudly, trying to get his attention. He stops but doesn’t turn around and Barbara assumes he’s listening to her, “I wanted to speak with you. You’ve heard about the assassination, correct? The archbishop has asked me to investigate the matter, and since you’ve been here for a few years now I was wondering if there’s any other potential targets you would point to? Would someone with ill will against the Church try to infiltrate another part of the monastery?”

“There’s a vault here,” Slade offers, sheathing his sword and finally turning around, “I heard it contains many valuable artifacts that the Church considers irreplaceable. Weapons, gold, paintings, anything you wouldn’t want stolen away by thieves.”

“As far as I understand it, no one has access to it save for a few individuals,” Barbara thinks out loud, “It’s almost impossible to enter.”

“Yes,” Slade nods, “However the job will be made simpler during the Goddess’ Rite of Rebirth since all of us will be guarding the Goddess Tower, and only a few lower level knights will be tasked with guarding the rest of the monastery. Personally if I were a thief, that is the place I’d target during the ceremony.”

“Ah… thank you,” Barbara mumbles, unsure of what else to say. Sensing the awkwardness, Slade just turns around and continues his training, leaving Barbara to walk out of the training grounds to regroup with Dick upstairs in the library. She’s lucky enough that she finds him on the staircase before she even reaches the place, “Did you find out anything?”

“Nothing useful,” Dick groans, waiting for her to catch up to him before moving on, “There’s some valuable plants here and there in the greenhouse that are difficult to get otherwise but it’s a place accessible to anyone, and all you need to do to get some seeds is ask the gardener. What about you?”

“There’s a vault somewhere here with valuable weapons and paintings and gold,” Barbara lists off, “Slade thinks that since all the knights will be at the Goddess Tower, it’ll be easier to access.”

“Not necessarily,” Dick shakes his head, “While getting past the knights will be easier, the door is locked shut, and impossible to open without a key or without causing a commotion. The best chance a thief could have is if they tried to blow up the door, but the noise that would make would bring all the knights to the vault, defeating the purpose.”

“So that’s out as well?”

“I wouldn’t discount it completely,” Dick admits as the two walk down the hall and towards the library, “Maybe our enemies have some sort of power that’ll allow them to get past the door silently, but I want to keep our options open for the time being.”

When they turn at the end of the hall, they almost run into two of the other knights they were looking for, “Lady Diana, Lady Shayera,” Dick bows his head, “I had hoped we would run into either one of you.”

“Oh?” Diana asks, “And what could the prince of Faerghus want from us? If it’s a mission then surely a knight of Faerghus would be better suited than an Adrestian one?”

Dick shakes his head, “It is nothing of the sort,” his voice returns to his regal one, “This is concerning the mission the Blue Lions were given for the month. As two esteemed knights of Seiros, perhaps one of you may have an idea about the potential target of our enemy?”

“You believe the assassination is just a distraction?” Shayera asks, “I don’t really see what else our enemy would want from here. Terrorising the students maybe, harming you, Donna or Roy would throw Fodlan into chaos if that’s their goal.”

“However since all three of you would be surrounded by the knights, you’re unlikely to be the target,” Diana adds, “I suppose the library has many books that can’t be found anywhere else… but anyone is free to come here and read them in their own time.”

“So there isn’t anything the two of you find suspicious?” Barbara concludes, “Maybe we were wrong then…”

The two knights continue down the hall and pass by Bruce as he leaves the captain’s office. He points to Barbara and Dick, then nods to his office. Without a word, Barbara and Dick follow his orders and step inside, with Bruce closing the door behind them, “I hear the two of you are investigating.”

“We are,” Barbara nods, “We don’t think the assassination attempt is real.”

“We believe it’s a distraction, and the enemy is targeting something else,” Dick adds, “If I remember right, you have quite the intuition. Do you know anything?”

“Back when I worked here 20 years ago, I remember the Goddess Rite of Rebirth being a large-scale ceremony where they believe the goddess will be reborn,” Bruce begins but he’s interrupted by Dick.

“ _They_ believe? So you don’t think it’ll happen?”

Bruce pauses to glare at Dick, but the prince doesn’t back off, so he sighs instead, “It doesn’t matter what I believe. The point is, it’s the only time of the year the Holy Mausoleum is open to the public. I’m not sure what it is someone would want from there considering how secretive Lady Dinah is about it, but if you’re looking for a target, I’d suggest protecting that.”

“You’re going to be at the Goddess Tower, aren’t you?” Barbara asks him and he nods.

“Unlike you, I don’t have a choice in the matter,” he informs her and sighs, “I’m counting on both of you to be on the lookout for suspicious behaviour near the mausoleum. I just hope I’m making the right call here.”

* * *

“Help me!” Bette cries out as she runs over to Wally, “Please, hide me somewhere. You’re good at running away from women, I’m sure you know some great hiding places!”

“I- what?” Wally asks when she comes over, but seeing the desperate look in her eyes, he decides not to question it. He puts a hand on her back and leads her in the direction of his room, “Not a lot of people want to come in here unless they’re invited, so this should work.”

As soon as the door shuts behind them, Wally begins to hear a man calling out her name, the voice of someone he had yet to meet, “Did this guy do something to you or am I helping out in some crime here? I mean… I’m fine with both I just need to know how I’m supposed to play this out.”

“I haven’t done anything bad,” Bette shakes her head and peaks out through his window cautiously, “You know I have the crest of Daphnel, right? Well, since my cousin rejected her inheritance, I’m going to be the heir of House Kane, meaning I also have to be the one to pass on our crest.”

“Oh I don’t like where this is going…”

“As nobles, we’re expected to marry well, even more so if we have crests,” she continues her explanation, “Some of our marriages are arranged when we’re born but other times our parents wait for the right suitor to come by. The man I’m hiding from is a high-ranking noble within the kingdom, but more importantly, he’s very rich.”

“Sounds like the perfect guy to me-,” he barely finishes his sentence before Bette swats him on the arm, “I was kidding!”

“Look, on the outside he sounds great- he graduated from the academy with top marks, he’s rich and from a renowned family but… ugh he’s so full of himself,” Bette fake gags, looking away from the window, “He just thinks he’s the best cos he’s a noble and tramples on anyone of lesser status. If I marry him, he’ll likely take charge of House Kane and run it to the ground… and I can’t allow that to happen, regardless of the dowry he might offer.”

Wally folds his arms, “Yeah okay sounds like an ass to me. Just lie and tell him you’re engaged already. He can’t pursue you if you’re already supposed to marry someone else, right?”

“Yeah and who would that be?” Bette asks, “word goes around the nobility quickly and he’s bound to figure out it’s a lie. I obviously can’t say it’s His Highness, and Tim is already arranged to marry someone else, so that would cause all sorts of trouble for him.”

“For real? Who’s he marrying?”

“Zatanna… although after this whole affair I suppose that’ll be put on hold,” Bette considers, “Maybe he’s a viable option after all… oh but no, I don’t want to cause Lord Drake trouble, and this guy will just follow me until he finds me or until I die or both,” Bette sighs hopelessly and Wally steps up to his door, reaching for the handle.

“Then I’ll just tell him you’re engaged to me,” Wally offers, “I might not be a noble, but one day I’ll become a valiant knight and uh... well I don’t have a crest but we can have enough kids until one of them inherits yours if that’s a concern.”

Bette laughs and shakes her head, “That... isn’t a terrible idea. But won’t you have problems of your own like that? Women won’t be so keen to come back here once they find out you’re to wed someone else.”

“No mistresses, huh? I can’t believe how much I’m losing out on this wedding already,” Wally grins, “You’re right, I’m totally regretting this relationship... but in all seriousness, I’d rather some random women I don’t even know yet think I’m taken than to have you marry that jerk. So, if you’re okay with it, I’ll get him to leave you alone that way.”

“Um... that’s extremely sweet of you, Wally... thank you.”

* * *

“Have you come to any conclusions?” Karen asks Dick and Barbara when they both approach her the next week, “Or do you think the assassination is the aim of the Western Church?”

Dick looks to Barbara first, expecting her to make a call, but when she says nothing, he replies to the archbishop’s aide, “The Western Church may use this opportunity to target the archbishop, but I do not think that is their end goal. It is the only time of the year the Holy Mausoleum is open to the public, so it is likely that their main goal lies there.”

“I see,” Karen says, putting a hand to her chin in thought, “If that is the case, then I will not be asking the knights to change their mission, but I ask the Blue Lions that they guard the mausoleum and keep our enemies busy until back up arrives, should they invade it. For this month, I’m asking you to concentrate on that task alone.”

Barbara turns to Dick, and with their investigation conducted, they both leave the audience chamber and only speak once they’re on the other side of the closed doors, “We’ll need to tell the rest of the group about this and figure out a strategy,” Dick says.

“I agree,” Barbara nods, “If we aren’t needed in the Goddess Tower, then I think our best strategy is to hide out in the mausoleum, aim for a sneak attack on our enemies. They already think we will be concentrating our forces on protecting the archbishop, we should make use of that. It’s unfortunate that we can’t search the place beforehand to figure out how to do it, so on the day of the Goddess’ Rite of Rebirth, I’ll need your help in gathering everyone early so we can enter the mausoleum as soon as it opens.”

“Of course, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Good, until then, you’re dismissed,” Barbara says with a small smile of gratification, “You have exams coming up in two weeks, I’ll be disappointed if you don’t end up passing them.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” Dick waves her off, “I couldn’t disappoint you like that, professor.”

* * *

When it’s time for the exams, Barbara remembers to bring a couple of books with her to pass the time, this time about the various fauna and flora around all of Fodlan. As her students tediously keep writing their exams, Barbara begins to read, knowing that with how she split up the class there was no chance any of them could cheat. Most of them weren’t even taking the same exams anymore.

Unsurprisingly, the first page she lands on is about the fish found here, presumably thanks to the nearby fishing pond which caused many to look for more information on their catch. Having fished a decent amount while on missions and fished since she’d come here, she skips that part of the book and turns to more interesting creatures.

Some pages later, she comes across various flying creatures. There were smaller birds at first, usually ones she often found on a plate and ready to be consumed in the dining hall, until they started getting bigger and bigger. It was only after she’d read further that she reached the section on Pegasi and Wyvern’s and other types of dragons that she got curious. One of the pages in the book had clearly been ripped out from this chapter, and she considered how she’d once overheard that Karen threw out books she deemed inappropriate for the academy or the monastery, but then the whole book would be gone if something so bad was shown in here. Perhaps a student got overeager and took the page for themselves.

She returns to the page on Wyvern’s, reading about their origin’s in eastern Leicester territory and the neighbouring nation of Almyra, fascinated by all the possibilities involved in riding one, so much so that she has to stop herself from jumping when Rose drops her exam on her desk, “Well… bye,” she says awkwardly before leaving the classroom altogether.

Considering that the only other person who had already taken the mercenary exam was herself, Barbara decides to start marking Roses exam to get a head start on it. The reading fascinated her, and she’ll have to find someone who can teach her to ride a Wyvern as soon as possible.

* * *

Rose was never the type who got easily stressed. At the very least, not since she entered Dick’s employ as his guard. Exams didn’t get her down easy but it was normal to feel a little unnerved after them, so it was only natural that Dick was able to find her taking any frustrations she had out on the training doll out in the training grounds, using a steel sword.

He finds one hanging off a rack for himself, and lunges at her with it, making sure she could hear his footsteps, so she’d turn around and block the attack. Just as he had predicted, her blade clashes against his, “You’re getting sloppy.”

“I wasn’t planning on actually killing you,” he tells her, pulling away, “Looked like you needed a training partner and I know you like to keep things interesting. How about it?”

“Unlike Tim, I know my own strengths. I’ll fight you only when I know I have the upper hand against that crest of yours,” she looks down at her slightly chipped sword, “Just from that it looks like I’ll need to get a new one.”

“Huh?” He glances over and notices the indent he’d left, “I didn’t even realise it activated on its own... wait, how are you not on the floor right now if I used all of my strength?”

Rose shakes her head, “Practice I suppose. I told you I’m aiming to one day surpass you. One step towards that is figuring out how not to get knocked down from a single blow.”

“Hm...” Dick hums rather loudly, still unsure what to make of it, “Rose, you know that if anything is ever bothering you, you can always come to me, right? I’m never going to judge you for your actions or who you are.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

Dick sighs and turns back around to put the sword back, “Which I hoped would mean you can also just call me by my name, but I won’t stop you from calling me that if it makes you more comfortable.”

“It’s not about comfort,” Rose shakes her head, “It’s all well and good for us to speak like we’re equals right now when we’re outside of Kingdom territory, but as soon as we graduate, you’ll be a king and I’ll be your humble servant, one that’s already got suspicious eyes on her. I’d rather accidentally call you ‘Your Highness’ once you ascend the throne than ‘Dick’ in the presence of others.”

“You don’t want to get used to that...” Dick looks away, “I guess the rest of the knights and nobility wouldn’t take kindly to that, no. Nevertheless my offer still stands. I don't really care what you call me, whether we're here or back in Fhirdiad. Anyway, if you're okay then I’ll be in my room then if you need anything.”

With that, he walks out of the training grounds, and Rose only turns just as he’s walking out of the door, “Oh please... if I tell you what’s really on my mind you’re only going to blame yourself further for all that’s happened.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some edits for the Blue Lions! You can find their character profiles here: https://feralprince56.tumblr.com/post/629224249103613952/battles-magic-and-homework-chapter-1


	10. The Goddesses Rite of Rebirth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Blue Lions meet a deadly oponent when trying to stop a group of thieves in the Holy Mausoleum. Dick and Kory talk outside of the monastery.

Just as he promised, everyone’s waiting for Barbara in the cathedral as soon as the sun rises, already in the armour they received once they passed their intermediate certification exams. When Barbara shows up, Dick climbs off his steed and walks over to her, “Some of us are a bit more awake and motivated than others, but we’re all ready to begin our mission. What about you, professor? Still think the Holy Mausoleum is our enemies real target?”

“Even if it isn’t, the other two houses and the Knights of Seiros are protecting the rest of the academy,” Barbara nods in the direction of the Mausoleum, only opened a few minutes prior to her arrival, “I’m aware that you passed your exams and are eager to try out your new classes, but I’m not sure bringing in horses and a Pegasus is a good idea.”

Wally points to one of the exits nearby, “I was thinking the same, which is why we can stand by the exits, just in case someone escapes? That, and you can always send someone out to get the four of us.”

“I’ll go,” Rose volunteers herself, “I’m quick, and I can always try and get a ride back with them.”

Tim shakes his head, “The horses kinda seem scared of you, maybe approaching them during combat isn’t a good idea. Besides, Kory is faster than you, probably best to leave that to her.”

Kory in turn look to their teacher for approval, “I shall do what is necessary at your command, professor.”

Barbara nods and looks to the entrance of the Holy Mausoleum, “Then prepare yourselves. We have no idea what kind of battle we have ahead of us, so remain vigilant at all times.”

* * *

It doesn’t take that long for Barbara’s suspicions to be confirmed, especially not when many members of the public had decided to visit the monastery for the celebrations and the criminals could easily hide in their midst.

“Stop right there!” Barbara exclaims when hooded figures make their way to the back of the Holy Mausoleum, right where the tomb of Saint Seiros was. She points her sword in their direction, and they too raise their weapons at her, “We were right after all.”

Dick, Tim, Wally and Bette ride in, followed swiftly by Kory, weapons raised, “Those are members of the Western Church!” Tim exclaims, “Wait…” he narrows his eyes at one particular knight in dark armor and a mask that completely covered his face, “But uh… he doesn’t exactly look like a member of the Church. I've never seen a priest wear anything like that before.”

The leader of the group looks to the knight and points in the direction of the Blue Lions, “Well? What are you waiting for, Death Knight? Kill them before the other knights show up! We can’t have these children interrupting us.”

“I don’t take orders from you,” The Death Knight replies in a heavily distorted voice, “See to your mission and I will see to mine.”

“Professor,” Dick looks to Barbara, concern covering his face, “Someone going by the Death Knight doesn’t sound like a guy we should ignore. I think we should deal with him first, then stop the Western church from doing whatever it is they’re trying to achieve here.”

“Stealing the bones of Saint Seiros by the looks of it,” Wally concludes, “Desecrating a grave is pretty messed up, regardless of what you believe in.”

Barbara points to the two wings of the hall that lead to the back without having to directly interfere with the Death Knight, “Dick, Wally, Artemis, you three take the left wing and stop the thieves that way. Tim, Bette, Kory, the three of you take the right wing, Vic, Rose, Zatanna and I will take care of the Death Knight and go through the centre. Understood?”

“Will the four of you be enough?” Dick asks, concerned as he looks towards the knight in question.

“Don’t worry Your Highness,” Rose reassures him, “We’ll stop in no time at all.”

With that established, the class doesn’t even need a signal from Barbara this time to push forward, instead, the cavalry takes the initiative first by running in their respective directions. Artemis runs forwards and only stops when she’s within range to shoot a nearby healer. Without any defensive magic or armour, the healer tries to move out of the way but isn’t quick enough, the arrow piercing his chest.

Kory flies in next, quickly sending two fireballs in the direction of a mage. He’s hit by the first but recovers quickly enough to shoot out some sort of purple lightning at her while dodging the second. She takes the hit, but it doesn’t seem to do much damage to her, instead shooting out a third fireball that hits him and knocks him out for good.

Bette isn’t too far behind her, flying in on her Pegasus, she raises her lance and slams it down on another dark mage. She only manages to get his arm, however, so the man stumbles but doesn’t back down, instead shooting purple lighting in her direction. She manages to fly out of the way in time, trying again and this time hitting her mark, “What’s with the purple stuff? I’ve never seen something like this before!”

“It’s dark magic,” Tim says as he rides in on his horse, getting closer and closer to the archer that was setting his sight on Kory, “We don’t really teach it in Faerghus, so I have no idea how these guys even know it, if they really are affiliated with the Western Church,” he jabs forward with his lance as he approaches the bowman, hitting him in the chest and sending him to the ground, “All the more reason we shouldn’t try to kill everyone here.”

“Tim is right!” Dick calls out, “Capture whoever you can! We need answers from these men,” He rides and quickly blocks an arrow from hitting Artemis. It hits his armour and bounces off, dealing no damage to him, and Artemis in return shoots at the archer as soon as Dick gets out of the way, aiming for his legs rather than his head or his chest.

“Well, we can’t just let them escape either!” Artemis says, “And honestly… I’d rather everyone die here than risk them getting away now of all times.”

“Professor?” Wally asks, “What should we do?”

“Try to capture them if possible,” She makes a quick decision, “However, kill anyone you have to. Artemis is right, we can’t have them run off with any precious artefacts, or even worse, bones of the saints.”

“Your wish is my command,” Wally sighs before riding after Dick and going further still before he throws his lance at another dark mage, aiming for the man’s legs as well. He’s lucky since the mage expects the lance to hit higher, the mage tries to duck and instead has his leg impaled by the lance, too distracted by the pain to attack or try to escape.

Vic runs towards the Death Knight first, readying his axe to fight off the knight. He doesn’t expect the lightning speed at which the Death Knight moves, jumping out of the range of his attack at the last minute and hitting him with his scythe, breaking through his armour.

Vic cries out in pain, and Zatanna quickly runs to his aid to heal him, “Oh god…” She looks at his deep wound and quickly puts her hand over it to stop the bleeding with a spell, “Who the hell is this?!”

Barbara grinds her teeth, running in before the Death Knight decides to attack either of them, and swings her sword at him. She does manage to land a hit, but it isn’t enough to break through his armour. He swiftly recovers and swipes at her with his scythe, that gets blocked by Rose in the last second.

Rose manages to push him back somehow, and narrows her eyes, “Professor, get them out of here. I’ll distract him long enough for Zatanna to get Vic back up on his legs.”

“Rose, I can’t let-.”

With a resounding clink, she manages to block another attack from the Death Knight, “I’ll be careful! I don’t plan on dying any time soon anyway,” she once again pushes him back and tries to hit him with a fire attack of her own. It doesn’t seem to do much, but it is distracting enough for Barbara to help Zatanna get Vic away from the fight scene.

“The Crimson Demon wasn’t powerful enough to strike me down,” The Death Knight comments, “How can an inexperienced child like you hope to defeat me?”

Rose shakes her head, “Ha! I can beat you twice as fast as the professor ever could, three or four times even!” Rose lunges forward, slashing up at the Death Knight. Once again, he manages to move out of the way and tries to attack her with his scythe. She’s unable to dodge in time or raise her sword quickly enough, so she does the only thing she can think of in the moment: she grabs the scythe by it’s blade before it reaches her head, cutting her hand on it but stopping it from killing her.

She cries out in pain and falls to her knees, and when the Death Knight tries to slam down his scythe on her from above, it’s Barbara’s turn to save her student by blocking the hit with her sword, “Rose!”

“I’m… alright…”

Barbara looks back to the pool of blood that way forming from where her hand was barely resembling a hand anymore. No, she couldn’t risk her students’ lives like this. Never did she expect this fight to be so dangerous, but she couldn’t just not attack the Death Knight… right?

Then again, he didn’t move until Vic had charged forward.

**_I told you once I would give you my power. I believe now is the correct time to use it. Just say the word, and I will do as you command._ **

“Do it,” Barbara says quietly, “Please, help me, Sothis.”

In the blink of an eye, she finds herself near the doors of the Mausoleum once more with Vic, Zatanna and Rose by her side. Right before Vic runs out, she speaks up, “Change of plans. The Death Knight doesn’t seem interested in helping out these guys and I’d rather fight one tough guy instead of an army of guys _and_ one tough guy. Rose, Zatanna, you two help out in the left wing, Vic and I will take the right, understood?”

“I don’t like this,” Rose shakes her head, “But it’s your call to make. I’ll make sure he doesn’t sneak up on us while we have our backs turned to him.”

With Barbara’s change in tactics, the two girls run to join Dick, Wally and Artemis on their side, Zatanna ready to heal up anyone that falls behind and Rose keeping a look out for the Death Knight’s movements. Just as she had expected, the Death Knight doesn’t react to either group, staying in the middle corridor and keeping an eye on all of them. Barbara would have been more concerned with what he was planning and what his intentions could be but she couldn’t let those thoughts plague her when stopping the thieves was a far more important task as of this moment.

There appeared to be two healers behind the Death Knight, one mage near the back where the tomb of saint Seiros was, a lancer on the right and footsteps of reinforcements approaching from behind. It was up to Barbara again to re-organise the group, “Rose, Vic, Artemis, you three deal with the backup. The rest of us will deal with these guys and join you once we’re done.”

On her command, Vic and Rose turn around and run back to the central corridor, raising their weapons when backup does arrive from the entrance. Rose immediately goes for the black mage heading for the left wing. She shoots a fireball out of her hand to stop him from running after the others, then sprints at him and aims for his neck with her sword.

Vic runs at the other black mage, the one aiming for the right wing. With little ways to stop her from running into the right wing, Vic runs through the columns and blocks the mages path. He manages to dodge the lighting that the mage shoots out of her hand as he gets closer and closer to her, aiming for her legs instead of a vital organ, hoping to incapacitate her but not kill her. He succeeds, and the mage falls down, her body going in one direction while her right leg flies in the other.

The last mage raises his hand and begins shooting purple energy in Artemis’ direction. She still has no idea what it is and what it could do to her, and she has no intention of finding out, so she rolls out of the way and immediately aims her arrow at the dark mage. With almost no time to improve her accuracy, she shoots and only manages to nick the mage in the shoulder, which doesn’t stop him from sending even more dark energy her way, “I’m gonna need a little back up here!” She informs her classmates.

“Bette!” Barbara shouts to her student, “You’ll need to fly in and help Artemis!” She dodges an attack from one of the healers and tries to strike her in the chest with her sword, but she manages to jump out of the way in time.

Bette listens to the command immediately and flies right past the Death Knight, who still remains unmoved from the spot they found him in. She firmly grasps her javelin right before pulling her arm back and launching it at the mage. Still busy dodging Artemis’ arrows, the mage jumps right into the spot where Bette had aimed, and the javelin goes straight through his head, finishing off that last of the reinforcements.

Up ahead, Barbara and her students almost have the situation handled completely when Wally manages to knock out the lancer, Barbara finishes off one of the healers while Kory sets another one on fire with her black magic. Dick rides ahead to the mage in the back, who swiftly turns around and shoots a fireball in his direction. The horse immediately raises it’s front hooves and runs out of the way, with Dick opting to jump off before his horse forced him to abandon the fight.

He tries to get away from the fire himself while the mage continues his assault, no longer interested in the grave behind him, but rather more focussed on his own safety. When Dick starts getting closer and closer, the mage turns around and moves the top of the tomb off, only to gasp, “Huh? This isn’t-! Fine!” He picks up an item from inside the tomb, a sword, and tries to use it to defend himself. He first succeeds in knocking back Dick with another fireball, but luckily enough his armour is enough to stop him from burning. It leaves an opening for Barbara, who runs in and uses her steel sword to knock the oddly shaped one the mage had just taken out from the tomb. It flies in the air and Barbara releases her right hand from her sword to try and catch the artefact. Just as she does, the mage shoots a fireball at her, and through reflex alone, she swings the sword and dispels the fireball before it can hit her.

The sword lights up in her hand, and clearly working much better than her regular steel sword, she drops that one to the ground and grasps the new sword with both hands, running at the mage. The mage tries to create a shield to block her attack, but the powerful sword makes quick work of it, destroying the shield as quickly as it was created, and slicing him through the chest. The mage slumps against the tomb, ending the fight.

“I see,” The Death Knight speaks from behind her, having observed the fight, “Perhaps we did find what we were looking for after all,” Zatanna and Tim try to slowly move to the Death Knight without making a sound, but he clearly notices it, “Another time, then,” with a flash of purple, the Death Knight disappears entirely, leaving the Blue Lions alone with some corpses and a couple of hostages.

Instead of moving to arrest the thieves that remained alive, Barbara takes a proper look at the sword this time, still glowing in her hands. It wasn’t a normal sword by any definition of the word, looked closer to a spine than anything else, and when Barbara pulled at the blade, she noticed it could easily come apart, brought together by some kind of rope, turning it into a whip whenever she would need it to do that.

She?

No, this was some kind of artefact.

It was easy enough to lose herself in the midst of the battle, but she had to return it or she was no better than the thieves who had tried to obtain it.

Then again, was that what they were really searching for? The mage seemed baffled by what he found inside after all, so clearly even they wouldn’t have expected this inside.

“That’s…” Tim’s eyes widen when he sees what was in her hands, “that’s a hero’s relic. It looks just like that creepy lance my father has.”

Dick gets up from where the fireball had thrown him and walks up to Barbara, joining the two of them and watching as the glow from the blade fades away, “Hmm… it’s more than that. Although I wasn’t allowed to, when I was younger, I once sneaked into the armoury in the palace in Fhirdiad in order to wield the weapon my father wielded whenever the opportunity called for it. It glowed in my hands, just as this sword glows in Barbara’s, but when one of the servants found me, they took it from my hands and it immediately stopped.”

“So it’s not just any relic,” Zatanna concludes, “That relic rightfully belongs to anyone with the crest to match it. Lady Dinah has the crest of Seiros, but you appear to have a different crest, correct?”

“John couldn’t tell me what my crest was, only that I had one that was most likely lost to history, or completely unseen,” Barbara explains, “I’m... I’m not quite sure what this is supposed to mean. I’ve never seen this or any other kind of relic in my life.”

“It means we need to ask Lady Dinah why she has something that doesn’t belong to her,” Rose speaks up, dragging one of the unconscious thieves behind her, “Or at least find out if one of your ancestors donated this to the church without fully understanding it’s power.”

“Fan out!” Another voice rings out in the Mausoleum, one that Barbara recognised but knew didn’t belong to any of her students, “Stop them from leaving the mausoleum and-,” Lady Kate stops herself when she notices that only the Blue Lions remained standing, “I see you’ve already made quick work of the bastards. Good job,” her eyes land on the sword she held in her hand, “But I have to ask… what are you doing with that thing? And why is the tomb of saint Seiros open?”

* * *

“We can back you up,” Zatanna offers at the doors leading to the audience chamber that Lady Dinah had called Barbara to a couple of days after the incident. The rumour of Barbara wielding what turned out to be a powerful weapon called the Sword of the Creator spread quickly, alongside the time at which she was going to discuss what would happen to it with the archbishop.

“Zatanna's right,” Vic says, “It’s unlikely that she’ll let go of something that powerful so easily, especially if she’s been hiding it all these years.”

Barbara shakes her head, “I can handle the discussion, and if I’m being honest, I’m not sure I’m the right person for it if the weapon is that powerful. Up until recently, I was just a good merc, and now I’m an average teacher. There might be a reason for why she kept it locked away too.”

“You should try to find that out then before you make your mind up,” Tim adds, “Ah! I shouldn’t be talking to you like that. You’re our teacher, it’s your decision and we’re being disrespectful. I apologise, it’s just very easy to think you’re one of us.”

Barbara smiles and shakes her head, “I am one of you. I’m the same age as most of the students in this academy anyway, and I don’t mind. It’s actually good to hear an unbiased opinion like that, it helps me come to a better conclusion.”

Dick smiles too and tries to move his friends away from her, “In that case, we won’t interrupt you. If you need us, we’ll be in the classroom until your meeting with the archbishop is over.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you, everyone,” She nods and opens the doors to the audience chamber where Dinah was already awaiting her at the end of the hall. The doors close behind her and she approaches the archbishop, “You wished to speak to me about what happened in the Mausoleum, yes?”

“Karen has already interrogated the thieves,” Lady Dinah informs her, “As expected, we got little to no information about what they wanted, however we were able to uncover that the attempt on my life was indeed a ruse for the knights to protect my life rather than protect the Holy Mausoleum. I am eternally grateful for you and your students insight and protection. For the time being, I have instructed Lady Kate and a few other knights to investigate the Western Church and other organisations within the Kingdom that wish us harm.”

“You don’t trust my students?” Barbara asks her, but Dinah disagrees.

“The previous king of Faerghus was a good man, who unfortunately and unknowingly to us appears to have surrounded himself with bad men,” Dinah gives her explanation, “Since the Tragedy of Duscur, there has been nothing but turmoil in the kingdom, and the king regent has not been handling the situation as well as we would have hoped. Who is to say if the young prince will fair better, but we won’t know until after he leaves this academy and after he is officially crowned king.”

She wasn’t entirely sure how much she was going to believe that. She knew that Dick was bound to come to the academy one way or another, but was Dinah’s only intention for him to study here? Or perhaps was she hoping that he would fall in line with her and lead Faerghus in a way she would approve of? Barbara wasn’t sure who to believe anymore.

Other than her students. She was sure she could put her trust in them.

“Regardless, as of right now the Kingdom is of no concern to us,” Lady Dinah shakes her head, “I wished to discuss more important matters with you, that is, the Sword of the Creator. I have been notified that it answers to you, to your crest. That you alone have the power to wield it.”

“I gave it to Lady Kate as soon as the fighting was over,” Barbara tries to explain herself, “I didn’t mean to use it in the first place, I used my best judgement to try and stop the thief.”

“I am not punishing you,” Dinah says gently, “The Sword of the Creator is a powerful weapon, but it is also dangerous. In the wrong hands it can bring entire armies to its knees. I kept it hidden away here, a secret, so no one would come looking for it, however… that no longer appears to be an option.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I suggest to put it in the right hands. Yours, that is,” the archbishop clarifies, “Not everyone can wield a relic, certainly not the Sword of the Creator. That is why I must ask you to guard it with your life. You will be able to use it most effectively, but you will also need to make certain it never falls into the wrong hands. Can I ask this of you?”

“I’ll do what I can, Lady Dinah.”

“You should be aware of one more thing,” Dinah continues before she dismisses her, “The Sword of the Creator, it was once wielded by the so-called King of Liberation, Nemesis. He was able to use the sword to its full potential himself and went mad with power as a result. Many have long forgotten this but keep it in mind when you wield that sword, as some may hold it against you.”

“If he was able to wield it, then am I his descendant?” Barbara asks for clarification, “That’s how crests work, right? You have to inherit them.”

“That I do not have the answer to,” Dinah looks down at the floor, “Nemesis walked this land almost a thousand years ago. While there is certainly a commonality between you and him, it is impossible to say whether you do indeed share a bloodline. He had no known descendants at the time of his death, after all, ” Lady Dinah turns around and walks in the direction of her study, “If that is all, you may leave now.”

With no further questions, Barbara turns around and leaves the chamber, passing by Karen on the way who had just returned from her daily activities. Karen looks back, watching as the door closes and only then speaks up, “Did you just give her the Sword of the Creator? You are aware of how dangerous that is?”

“I know what I’m doing, Karen,” Dinah insists, taking a seat at her desk.

“Do you? You know what that weapon is capable, what it did, and in who’s hands,” Karen shakes her head, “It’s even more dangerous now than before. I saw the weapon. It shouldn’t even be possible for anyone to wield it without severe consequence and yet a stranger is able to activate it on it’s own?”

“Barbara is _not_ a stranger,” Dinah says sternly, “As I said, I know what I’m doing. I gave Barbara the weapon precisely because I know that it won’t be in the wrong hands as long as she wields it.”

“I cannot allow another massacre to happen,” Karen narrows her eyes, “Not as long as Kara is here. You know I swore to protect her. If things do not go according to your plan, I will have no choice but to abandon this place and run away with her. I hope you are aware of this.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Dinah shakes her head, “Believe me, Karen, I am doing what I can to avoid bloodshed. That starts with you trusting the new professor.”

* * *

“I still disagree with it,” Barbara hears Dick say in the classroom as she approaches it, “For now, however, we will have to continue and do as Lady Dinah instructs us, even if it means going against our own beliefs.”

“Beliefs in what?” Barbara asks as she slips through the door and closes it behind her, making sure no one else would eavesdrop on them, “You’re not planning to go against the church now, are you?”

“Even if I had the power to do so, I wouldn’t endanger so many people like that,” Dick tells her, “We were discussing what is going to happen next. I was there when Karen, Lady Dinah and Lady Shayera interrogated the priests, but the archbishop had them executed before I could ask my own questions.”

“We’re sure that she’s going to send out more knights to the Western Church,” Vic continues from there, “And she’s going to make sure nothing like this happens again, at least, not any time soon.”

“She’s going to slaughter them,” Zatanna informs Barbara, “Or at least, silence them and punish them in any way she can, and she’ll make the kingdom do it undoubtedly. It’s Church matters, but she won’t want to sacrifice her own men in this battle.”

“I’m not sure I follow…” Barbara trails off, “The Western Church, is that a different religion or is it all the same? I thought there was only one faith in all of Fodlan?”

Tim shakes his head, “There’s more than one, the people of Duscur, those that remain, they believe in the Goddess but they also have their own gods from what I know. Many other individuals believe in the Goddess to some extent but put their faith in other gods, or don’t believe at all.”

“But the Church of Seiros does hold a majority here, yes. In theory, all three nations leaders believe in the Goddess,” Dick admits, “Although… I do still find it weird that you’ve lived here but didn’t hear about it till recently. I’m not sure why exactly they’d hire someone like you as a teacher if you don’t follow the faith of your employers. In any case, Garreg Mach is where the Central Church is located. From here, Lady Dinah as archbishop controls what happens, but in the same way that Faerghus is divided into its own territories, so is the church. The Western Church is just a part of the Church of Seiros, one responsible for faith in Faerghus.”

“Think of it as a rebellion,” Zatanna tries to simplify it for her, “The Western Church wants Lady Dinah gone so they can rule over the Central Church. It would be like one of the Lords trying to kill Dick because they didn’t like the idea of him being in charge, and they were next in line.”

“The question now is why did the Western church do this,” Vic brings up, “They knew they wouldn’t have a chance against not just the Knights of Seiros, but against the Kingdom as well. Either they had a different goal in mind…”

“Or someone misled them,” Tim finishes for him, “The Death Knight, he wasn’t involved with them, clearly. So he must be part of whoever made them do this in the first place.”

“I don’t believe my father would have done this on his own,” Zatanna shakes her head, “We might have grown apart since my mother’s death but… He wasn’t delusional. Someone must have convinced him that what he was doing was the right thing.”

“I think so too,” Dick agrees, “Although if I’m being honest… I wish that weren’t the case. If they were delusional, our problem would be over. Since we don’t think they are, it only means that we’re most likely falling further and further into whatever trap these people are trying to throw us into.”

* * *

“Richard!” Dick hears Kory shout from across the courtyard once he leaves the classroom. It was a Sunday, so he didn’t expect that anyone would find him in the classroom, and yet here was Kory, clearly searching for him, “Do you have a moment?”

“Kory?” Dick raises an eyebrow, “I was planning to get some training with the horses but that can wait.”

“Oh, is that so?” Kory smiles and grabs him by the arm, “Then allow me to join you! I will be happy to aid you!”

“Huh?” Dick asks, barely even able to keep up with her excitement. Regardless, he lets her lead him through the dinning hall, past the training grounds and right up to the stables, “I remember you talking about your study plan, it doesn’t include horse riding from what I remember. You want to become a mortal savant someday, don’t you?”

“From what I have seen, the high lord class requires you to work on your authority, not horse riding either. From your experience, I am certainly you can pass your Paladin exam with no effort at all,” Kory says and walks inside, returning with two horses, one for her and one for the prince, “Shall we, Your Highness?”

Dick rolls his eyes, smiling at the same time, “Alright, alright, I forgot just how hard it was to say no to you. Let’s ride.”

In silence, they lead their horses out through the gates of the monastery, across the bridge and over to the woods just beyond where they wouldn’t have to worry about walking into any of the citizens. As soon as they can, they climb onto their steeds and ride off, riding down the rarely used paths. Eventually, Kory makes a sudden unexpected turn, and Dick follows after her, ending up in an empty field, far from the monastery. Kory slows down and climbs off her horse, leading it back towards the trees where she leaves the steed, Dick following her.

She sits down in a patch of grass first, before lying down on her back and closing her eyes. Dick removes his sword and sits down next to her, but opts to stay attentive to their surroundings, “I don’t think this is exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted to practice. As beautiful as this place is, I have to wonder why you brought me here in the first place.”

“You worry too much,” Kory insists, she opens one eye and grabs his arm again, dragging him down so he can lie next to her, “Zatanna had informed me that you do not rest well. I had wondered it myself and have heard you sneaking around the dormitory at night. Those could only be your footsteps. I do not believe it is from a lack of effort.”

“It’s a little more complex than that,” he sighs, looking up and observing the clouds above them without making any movement to sit back up. When she’s certain he’s not leaving, Kory closes her eyes again, “It’s not that I don’t want to sleep, but every time I close my eyes… bad things happen.”

“I understand more than you would know,” Kory nods, “I miss Tamaran. I miss seeing the smiles of the children there, the plants that you could never grow in the climate here, the buildings, the jungles… perhaps one day once my heir grows and takes charge of House Anders, I may be able to return.”

“Kory…” Dick props himself up to have a look at her, watch her expression, “I… I can’t do much right now, but I’m sure that I could arrange for something, maybe discuss matters with your father. I’d even be happy to oversee your territory in your absence once I’m king.”

Kory shakes her head, “You will have more than enough on your own plate. Regardless, it is not the territory I am concerned about, or bothered by. I am upset with the system we live in daily. I am chained to my fate by my own crest. Even my sister can do more since she bears no crest. Becoming disowned results in even more freedom than I had once imagined. I used to believe that it was Koma that was a prisoner of her fate, now however, I’m certain it’s the opposite.”

“You want crests gone?” Dick asks and Kory shakes her head once more.

“For some, crests are a part of who we are, they influence our character, our lives… I simply wish to live in a world where they are not our defining trait. I would happily trade my title for that. However I am also aware that if I do that, I have no guarantee that someone cruel may take over House Anders,” Kory sighs, “I apologise. This was not meant to be about me and my own values. I wished for you to relax and here I am stressing you out further.”

Dick lies back down and closes his eyes this time, “Actually, you’ve given me something to think about, something outside of my own experience… it feels nice to talk about something other than my own past for once,” he yawns and pops open one eye to look back at the horses, “You know… maybe I can take a little bit of a break from training… just a few minutes…”

* * *

**_Sword of the Creator… King of Liberation… these are all things you dreamt of, aren’t they? Some far off war waging between him and Seiros. How are you able to recall such an event so vividly, as if you were there?_ **

Returning to her dorm, Barbara rubs her temples, once against choosing to speak to Sothis only when she was alone as to not draw any odd looks that may come her way, “I have no way of knowing that. Maybe It’s something my head came up with. Maybe it’s a childhood story I heard and have since recalled subconsciously?”

**_If that were the case… well, I suppose it matters not. What is in the past cannot be brought back. However, that sword is now in your possession, and even I find something quite odd about it. It is a Hero’s Relic, yes? Just like that knights…_ **

“Lady Kate?” Barbara asks, looking the sword over in her hands, “Now that you mention it, it does appear to be made from some strange material, just as hers is. It glows in my hands when I fight, as hers does. You’re saying it’s odd? Why?”

 ** _The centre, look,_** Sothis says, suddenly appearing in her room and pointing to an empty circular area right under the blade, **_It appears as if something is missing from it. But what precisely? I cannot tell._**

“Lady Kate’s had some kind of red orb in hers, it was different from the rest of the weapon. Do you think that changes anything?” Barbara inquires but gets no answer in return, “Well it’s a better sword than anything I’ve ever used before, better than any weapon I’ve held altogether. It’ll help me keep the students safe when we go out on missions.”

**_Oh, you haven’t been given a new mission yet, have you? I suppose that will come in time. For now I suggest you rest. I have much to think about regarding this turn of events._ **

* * *

Far into the woods, far away from any civilisation that may accidentally stumble onto them, two figures speak, one tall, bald man of noble descent, and the other in a red cloak, white and red mask covering their face, “It appears as though the archbishop is still alive,” the masked individual tells the man in a highly distorted voice.

“What did you expect from a bunch of priests?” The man raises an eyebrow, “If you had planned on killing her right now, you should have sent someone more competent in. Did you not make use of the Death Knight at all?”

“Perhaps it is for the best,” the masked person replies, “The longer the professor stays teaching at the monastery, the more mystery begins to surround her, and the archbishop seems to have all the answers that she won’t share with anyone.”

“What do you suggest we do now?”

“We wait,” the masked individual shakes their head, “There is more intel to be gathered. The Western Church was unable to recover the bones of Saint Seiros, however they did find something else. The Sword of the Creator, the sword that has been given to the professor as she is able to wield it.”

“She bears the crest of Nemesis?” the man asks, “That’s impossible… although stranger things have happened. I must agree with you, we cannot engage with Church forces until we find out what exactly the professor is capable of doing. I’ll leave that task you to.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”


	11. Tower of Black Winds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bette and Vic search for some missing books in the library, Kory shares Tamranian fruit with Barbara and the Blue Lions storm a tower in hopes of retrieving a Hero's Relic.

Crossing the garden on her way to the kitchen for breakfast, Barbara is still unsure of what she’s supposed to do with her class. Given that she had no assigned mission, it meant she had way more time to train and teach them than usual. However, even her lazier students like Wally or her less talented students like Bette were surpassing her expectations. She didn’t expect anyone to fail their advanced class exams and with last weeks mission she saw just how well they had begun to work together as a team.

She supposed she should give them some training on how to lead the charge. Dick certainly needed that kind of experience, and she didn’t doubt that some of her noble-born students would be leading their own armies one day, though it wasn’t easy to do when she had no one to fight against.

“Professor!” Kory calls out to her when she walks inside, prompting Barbara to grab only an apple for a quick snack before sitting across from her student, “I have something important to say. I hope that this will not change your schedule too drastically. I have already spoken with the archbishop on the topic, and she fully supports me.”

“Do tell.”

“House Anders is perhaps one of the most traditional noble families in all of Faerghus,” as requested by Barbara, Kory begins her story, “Other than the royal family of House Grayson, we are the only house that insist on an heir with a crest. The other families are quite adamant about it too, but not as rigorous as we are. For the royal family, that means that only the heir with the crest of Blaiddyd will be next in line for the throne. Dick’s uncle is in fact such an example. While he is older than the former king and of course, older than Dick, he must give up the throne once Dick finishes his studies here. However, unlike House Anders, House Grayson still treats its crestless family members as family members. Dicks uncle remained a noble and now serves as king regent.”

“I believe I’ve heard about this,” Barbara breaks up her flow a little, “Bette is the heir to House Kane since she bears the crest of Daphnel, and Tim will become the heir to House Drake as he bears the crest of Gautier. You will one day become the heir of House Anders since you bear the crest of Charon, correct?”

“Yes,” Kory answers, “In the case of Tim and Dick, it is quite simple as they are the only heirs of their respective houses, and as such would have had to inherit the territory regardless. In the case of Bette, she is second in line, however her cousin, who bears the same crest, has rejected her inheritance in favour of serving the church. In House Anders, however… I am not the only one in my family. I have two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother, and yet I am the only one who bears a crest.”

“Automatically making you the heir to House Anders,” Barbara concludes, “Keep going.”

“My brother never had a problem with it. He moved back to Tamaran and is quite content there,” Kory informs her, “My sister, being the oldest, never appreciated it. She would torment me as a child, knowing that once she was of age she would be disowned by the family, just as my brother will be. She could not bear the thought that one day I would have my own territory while she was left with nothing. When the day came and she came of age, she abandoned House Anders. Until recently, we had reason to believe she had joined a group of bandits that stormed villages in the Adrestian Empire, that is, until the Anders’ relic was stolen.”

“Your family suspects it’s your sister?” Barbara interjects and Kory nods, “I see, so our mission for this month will be to track it down and take it back, I presume? Lady Dinah has already told me what a Hero’s Relic can do in the wrong hands.”

“I am not sure she stole it herself,” Kory adds on, “As for tracking down the weapon… I may have a solution to that. House Anders has managed to send out spies to investigate the situation, and one of them has heard of a sale of an ancient weapon taking place at the end of this month in Conand Tower, located in House Kane territory. It is taking place such a long time from now as Koma wishes to gather as many possible buyers in that time and allow them to arrange their offerings for the Relic. I have received permission from both the archbishop and Margrave Kane to storm the tower on the day of the sale. The archbishop has told me that this should be our mission for this month, as retrieving the weapon will be of the utmost importance.”

“I don’t blame her,” Barbara bites into her apple, chews, swallows, then continues, “Letting some bandits carry around a weapon she claimed can bring entire armies down doesn’t sound like something any of us want in the wrong hands. Thank you for informing me. I won’t have time to adjust today’s study plan, but I will see what I can do for the upcoming weeks once classes end for the day.”

* * *

As she searches through the thoroughly dusted shelves in the library, Bette grows more and more disappointed. She thought that if any place were to have history books about Fodlan, it would be here. Yet the more she looks, the more she keeps running into the same books. The Insurrection of the Seven. The King of Lions. The Crescent Moon war. Stories that she’d heard time and time again in her childhood, or at least lived in the time they happened and can easily recall the facts herself.

She hardly needed to read a book on the noble families of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. She talked to them on a daily basis.

“Need help?”

“Ugh for the last time, I don’t need any-,” Bette turns her head to berate the fourth priest that had come up to her in the last half an hour, but finds Vic looking down at her instead, “Oh, hey. I don’t need help. Sorry, the anger was uncalled for.”

“Well, I’m here anyway, and I’m sure whatever you’re looking for will be easier to find with two people looking,” Vic offers, “So, tell me. What do you need?”

“It’s complicated,” Bette says, exasperated from her search. She turns away from the shelf she was currently staring at and faces Vic, “I don’t know if you’ll even understand why I’m doing this but… I’m tired of being bad at everything. I have nothing going for me. I can’t be the fastest, I’ll never beat Wally. Tim is so obsessed with pleasing his family that he’ll never _not_ get the top marks in our exams. Artemis’ aim is unbeatable, and Zatanna has her whole life’s worth of knowledge on the mystical. Kory can instantly adapt to any situation, Rose doesn’t have a single weakness, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone break through your defences. I’d say Dick has it worse since his strength is just the result of his crest but he’s the prince! And a great leader. I’m nothing.”

“You’re right… I don’t understand what that has to do with you being in the library."

“I was getting to that,” Bette sighs, “I decided that I would start learning more about the history of Fodlan. With how much it influences our crests and even our daily lives, I figured it must be important, and where else to start but the 10 Elites. The majority of their descendants live in the Kingdom, myself included… maybe rereading the history might help me with my own power.”

“But you can’t find anything on it?” Vic asks her and she nods, “Hm, that is pretty strange, considering how insistent the Church is about the relics landing in the hands of their rightful owners.”

“I heard rumours that Karen throws out anything deemed ‘illegitimate’ by the church,” Bette tells him and turns back to the shelf, “Honestly if that’s true, I’m fairly certain that pertains to uh… less than savoury content, of a nature I don’t feel comfortable discussing out in the open like this. Is it possible that the Church also throws out anything that could hurt them?”

“How would a story about the 10 Elites hurt them?” Vic asks, “From what His Highness has told me, they were the ones who established Fodlan, with the help of the Church. Unless there is something missing from that history?”

“Oooh!” Bette exclaims with a smile, and jumps to face Vic again, “Maybe that can be my ‘thing’! I’ll keep a record of all books discussing ancient history and make sure they’re never lost to time! Uh… I guess that first means tracking down something about the 10 Elites. I can hardly keep track of the history of Fodlan when we don’t even have a starting point.”

“If 5 of the 10 Elites descendants are Faerghus nobility, maybe we should be searching there, rather than the Monastery,” Vic thinks out loud, “When I next return to Fhirdiad with His Highness, I’ll keep a look out for any books that could be of use to you.”

“Oh seriously?” Bette asks with a smile, “Thanks! Yeah, I’ll be sure to do that. For anything else that’s missing, I’ll track down the right source and write it myself if I have to!”

* * *

Returning from her walk in the forest just outside of Garreg Mach, instead of going to her dorm, Barbara decides to have an early lunch on her day off and walks through the entrance of the main building of the Monastery. On her way there. She notices Dick speaking with a man she’d never seen before, and the prince waves over for her to join the conversation. With little choice, Barbara changes her direction and walks to the two men.

“Ah, professor, I’d like you to meet Sir Alfred Pennyworth,” Dick introduces his conversation partner, “He is the greatest knight in all of Faerghus, and functionally acted as a second father to me and Tim when my father passed away. I have a lot to thank him for.”

The older knight rolls his eyes and shakes his head, “You give me too much credit, Richard. I simply did my duty, serving my lord and my country, and yet you make it sound as if training you was a heroic deed.”

“You did more than train me, Alfred. Wasn’t it you that taught me proper table manners?” Dick grins, “And told me and Tim off whenever we would fight? Or made me wash the kitchens when I wouldn’t stop breaking the cutlery? I don’t recall that being part of your duty.”

“Even if those were outside of my duties, you have nothing to thank me for,” Alfred shakes his head, “Professor, can you tell me if he’s been keeping up with his training? I expect that you’re rigorously testing him and ensuring that the young prince will return to the capital stronger than ever before.”

“He’s definitely improved,” Barbara compliments Dick, “Although I’ve had him focussing on his technique with a lance more so than a sword. He’s talented in both, but he has greater potential with a lance than he does with a sword. His unnatural strength works better with a lance too.”

“Rightfully so,” Alfred smiles under his grey moustache, “One day he will be wielding the greatest lance in all of Fodlan, perhaps it is wisest to have him focussing on his talent then. I hear that you, however, excel with a sword. Who taught you your technique?”

“My father, Sir Bruce Wayne,” Barbara informs him, and the man’s eyes light up.

“Bruce Wayne?” Alfred questions with a chuckle, “My, my, I have not heard that name in quite a long time. He had a child? I was unaware… Is he here? I have spent many a night training him, perhaps even more so than I’ve ever trained the future king.”

“He is mostly likely away on a mission,” Dick tells him, “Bruce is the Captain of the Knights of Seiros right now, he re-joined them. If I see him, I’ll let him know you’re visiting. Speaking of that, you never explained to me your reason for a prolonged stay.”

Alfred’s expression quickly shifts to a more serious one as his brows furrow, “Yes, indeed I have not. I’m certain you have already heard of the troublesome child of House Anders? She and her gang of bandits have been causing quite a commotion. House Drake and House Kane are struggling to contain the situation, House Anders of course had its relic stolen. The regent king believes these are all merely small incidents that the local nobility can deal with on its own and refuses to deploy the kingdom army. I have come here to request aid from the Knights of Seiros and aid you in recovering the Thunderbrand when the time comes.”

Dick runs a hand through his hair and sighs, “I wish I could say I’m surprised about this, but it’s hardly the first and most likely won’t be the last time my uncle has dismissed something like this, or acted irrationally. I’ll write to him myself, perhaps request aid from some of the other lords who aren’t involved. I have a feeling it won’t change much… but maybe they’ll be prompted by their future leader requesting it.”

“Maybe they’ll think they can get on your good side if they help you now?” Barbara suggests, “Or worry they’ll end up on your bad side, though rule by fear has never ended well.”

Dick shakes his head, “Even if that was something I wanted to do, which isn’t an option, it wouldn’t matter. The kings orders are absolute, but the lords will still run their territory however they please, unless I keep a watchful eye. Unfortunately this also means that with a leader who’s more interested in women than he is in leading will result in the current chaos engulfing the region.”

“It’s a few gang members, and the Church seems adamant about stopping them,” Barbara tries to comfort him, “I’m certain we can get it under control. In fact, if the Church of Seiros denies your request-,” she says, looking at Alfred now, “-I can mobilise my own class on our free days and set out to quell the chaos the bandits are causing around the Kingdom. As long as I say it’s in the name of training, the church should have no problem with it.”

“I appreciate the help, professor,” Alfred bows his head, “With that, I should make my request now. No need to put it off any further,” Alfred bids them good day and leaves the two behind.

“It’s not the bandits I’m worried about,” Dick watches Alfred walk away, “I’m worried about the state Faerghus will be in once I'm put in charge. I’m trying to stay hopeful, but I have no idea if I’ll even be able to save it from ruin.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Honestly?” Dick looks to her, “Not exactly. I’d rather leave that for future Dick to deal with. It’s his issue. My issue is training enough to pass my exams and get Kory back her relic. We need to be there for her. Her family might have disowned Koma, but this is still Kory's sister we’re talking about. I’m sure this upcoming mission won’t be easy on her.”

* * *

In the hottest days of the summer, Barbara liked to wander away from the academy where the tall buildings kept the hot air in and opted to stroll through the forest whenever she could. Even the nearby villages gave her some respite from the heat. Not too many villagers wanted to stay outside when the weather was this bad, which made walking through the small marketplace just that much easier. She had found a book that interested her, and when nothing else caught her eye, Barbara was ready to leave until she caught the recognisable red hair of one of her students, “Kory? I didn’t expect you to be here. Do you come to the market often?”

“Hello professor,” Kory gleams at her, a bizarre fruit in her hand, “Oh yes, I come to this place as often as I can. Unfortunately the market in the monastery only sells what the people of Fodlan eat the most. I understand why, but it means that foods that are only found on Tamaran are hard to come by. Would you like to try it, professor?” She offers her the fruit in her hand, “Do not think of the smell. It is far worse than the taste.”

With little to lose and feeling like she couldn’t turn down her student’s request, Barbara takes the fruit into her hand makes the mistake of smelling it. She prayed Kory was right, as the fruit smelled just like the times when she was a mercenary and hadn’t cooked the meat she hunted down in time during one of their longer mission. Nervously, she takes a small bite out of it and chews.

After swallowing, she gives her honest opinion, “It smells like spoiled meat but… it certainly does have a different taste. I’m not sure it’s something I would enjoy, however.”

“Oh that is alright professor,” Kory smiles and picks out a few more fruits and vegetables from the stand in front of her, “I am pleased that you were willing to try it… oh, in that regard, I have a favour to ask.”

“Yes?”

“I have been trying to distract myself from thoughts about the upcoming battle, which is why I am here today,” She informs the teacher, “If you could indulge me and have the time, could you help me cook some traditional Tamaranian dishes? And eat them with me, of course.”

“I do have quite the appetite,” Barbara admits, “I’ll be happy to help you share your culture, Kory. I haven’t ever been to Tamaran myself, but it does sound very interesting. Perhaps one day you will be able to show me?”

“I would love to!” Kory jumps up from the delight of someone like her showing enthusiasm and curiosity towards her non-Fodlan heritage, “I have not been able to return there in quite some time, and I would not be surprised if my duties as the heir of House Anders left me with little time to visit the island, but I do hope that one day I may stroll the beautiful beaches of my mother’s land.”

* * *

The droplets of rain begin staining Barbara’s cloak as she and her class make their way through the forest and right up to Conand Tower on the day of the sale. She can’t hear much else other than the clinks of armour as the group approaches and looks up, “Are we sure it’s here?”

Sir Alfred, having joined them for the mission per the request of Lord Drake, nods and points to some horses nearby, “They must be inside. This tower is ancient, but it is quite good at isolating sounds. It was once part of a great fort, but now only this tower remains, harbouring the bandits inside.”

“You seem very knowledgeable about this particular tower,” Dick remarks with a grin on his face, “Please, do continue.”

“I should have expected that the sarcasm would wear off on you,” Alfred sighs and shakes his head, “If you’re feeling this cocky, perhaps we should leave you on the front lines and see just how well you can handle yourself against these bandits.”

Barbara steps in front of the group and observes their formation, “And on that note, we should be wary. Koma Anders has a powerful weapon on her hands. Kory, can you tell us anything about it?”

“She is wielding the Thunderbrand,” Kory begins her explanation, walking to the front and standing next to Barbara, “With the crest of Charon, the wielder can move much faster than a typical human. Even without it, Koma will be able to move incredibly fast as the sword draws power from her. We must take the weapon back from her as quickly as possible, and at any cost if necessary.”

“Are you sure, Kory?” Tim asks her from the back, “She is your sister, after all. Lady Dinah hasn’t told us to kill her, just to bring the weapon back whole.”

Kory shakes her head, “Koma will fight to the death to protect what she believes is rightfully hers. She has chosen her path. I… hope to forgive her and to end this without shedding any familial blood, but I fear that is what she is expecting me to do and will use it to her advantage. If I am unable to deliver the final blow, I trust that you will all have my back and be able to do so in my stead. Remember, she will fight for this with her life.”

“We’ll try to bring her back if we can,” Zatanna encourages her, “But if that’s not possible, we’ll do what we can to get the relic back. Who knows what could happen when a crestless human wields a weapon like that?”

“I do not wish to find out,” Kory shakes her head and looks to Barbara, “That is all professor. I am at your disposal. How do you wish us to proceed?”

“Kory, you know her best and I’m hoping that knowledge will come in handy, so if you can, I need you on the front lines,” Without hesitation, the mage steps closer to the entrance to the tower, “Vic, Dick, Alfred, I’m counting on you three to keep any and all swordsmen, lancers, axemen and brawlers away from her, can you do that?” They don’t question the order and step up next to Kory, Vic standing on her left, Dick on her right and Alfred behind her, “Zatanna, Artemis, the two of you will be in the mid line with me, you know what to do. Rose, Bette, Tim, you three will be keeping an eye on the rear. We have no idea how many bandits there are around, and I don’t want to be on the receiving end of a surprise sneak attack, understood?”

With their weapons raised, the Blue Lions storm the tower, immediately disposing of the bandits at the front. Without hesitation, Kory runs ahead, shooting fire and lightning out of her hands with each spell she casts as she dodges past the arrows, swords, axes and lances that swing her way.

“Kory!” Babs calls after her, quickly jumping out of the way from a bandit that tries to cut her head off with a sword, and slashes at his chest, “Dammit, she’s not paying attention anymore. Wally, Bette, Dick, go make sure she doesn’t do anything irrational!”

Bette follows her orders immediately, pulling her lance out from one of the bandits she had just disposed off and flies ahead on her Pegasus, Wally and Dick not too far behind her. Seeing some bandits emerging from a secret entrance right behind Kory, Bette raises her lance and throws it at one of the bandits, “Kory, behind you!” She exclaims as the lance strikes one of them.

Kory tries to move out of the way of the axe of the other bandit, but she isn’t quick enough as some of it catches on her arm and draws blood. With the next swing of his axe, the bandit tries to strike at her head but Wally rushes in time to block the attack with his lance, “Kory, I know this is personal but you have to keep it together. There’s no point in running in head first if you’re just gonna get yourself killed!”

Dick rides ahead to take care of the archer reading his bow to strike at the group, blocking the arrow with his shield before impaling the bandit, “We’ll waste more time trying to heal you than if we move together as a group,” he explains, riding back to the small group. He gets off his horse and picks Kory up, helping her up onto his horse before climbing back on, “I’ll take her back to Zatanna so she can help with the wound. Keep an eye on my back, yeah?” He asks the other two, who follow his orders and make sure to block any incoming arrows or spells with their shields.

When Bette flies off to deal with a mage, Wally makes sure Dick and Kory are covered, with Bette doing the same when Wally gets stuck behind as he tries to kill a particularly dextrous archer.

They regroup with the rest of the team, Dick once again helping Kory by taking her off the horse while Bette got Zatanna to her, “How are you doing?” Dick asks her and she shakes her head.

“I... I cannot feel my arm… I apologise for foolishly running a-ahead,” Kory stutters

“No, I get it, trust me,” he pulls back part of her fabric for Zatanna to inspect the wound. She puts her hand over it and a light glows right from her hand, “Can you fix her arm?”

“Since you brought her over immediately? Yeah,” Zatanna confirms, and briefly looks up to observe the chaos around them. Once she’s done, she pulls the fabric back over Kory’s arm, “Do what you need to do, but know we’re here to back _you_ up, okay? We'll get the relic, I'm sure.”

Kory lets go of Dick and stands on her own, “Yes. Please, help me reach Koma?”

Dick climbs onto his horse and reaches his hand out to Kory, “Hop on.”

She pulls herself up with his help and gets on the horse behind him, before turning her head back to Barbara, “Professor, we will ride ahead.”

Barbara looks back at the bandits behind her and sees Artemis shooting at them while Tim, Vic and Rose try to keep them away from her. Ahead of them, Wally, Bette, Alfred and now Zatanna who had re-joined the, fight the thieves crawling out of the hidden entrance, “I’m coming with you this time, you’ll need my help,” she glances down at the sword glowing in her hands.

Dick rides ahead of her, and Barbara runs to Wally once he’s dealt with one of the thieves, “I’ll watch your back, you follow Dick and Kory, alright?”

“How exactly-,” Wally begins to ask but his question is quickly answered when a man with an axe runs at Barbara, who in turn slashes in his direction, her sword coming apart and turning into a deadly, spiked whip. It slashes at his throat and the man falls to the ground, bleeding out. She whips it again and it returns to it’s sword form, “Alright, let’s go,” he helps her up and rides after Dick, following him through the large halls of the tower.

The four of them dispose of the thieves quickly enough on their own, with very few of them on their tail thanks to the efforts of the other Blue Lions guarding the other entrances. Dick and Wally make sure to knock anyone out of their path, and anyone who is left alive and chasing them is stricken down by Kory’s magic or the Sword of the Creator.

They reach the top of the tower, with only one person standing between them and the hero’s relic.

The black haired girl tilts it around her hand while Kory and Barbara get off the horses, “You sure took your time in getting here sis. You know, originally I was going to sell this off. House Anders already has enough power without this thing. But why sell it when I can just use myself? Further my own plan?” She points at Dick and grins, “Maybe even take the throne one day. Areadbhar would look so good hanging above my bed in the warmth of Fhirdiad's Palace. With the House Grayson army by my side, I could probably make Tamaran mine too.”

“Areadbhar and Fhirdiad aren't yours to take. Faerghus deserves a better leader than a thief,” Dick frowns and looks down at Kory, “this is your houses business, what do you want to do?”

Kory slowly begins to walk in her direction, clearly still hoping for a peaceful resolution, “Koma, please, give the relic back. I can speak with our father, he can be reasoned with, but you need to stop making this so hard for all of us.”

“I’m making it hard?” Koma grits her teeth, “You stole everything from me! And why? You have a crest and all you do is bitch and moan about it. House Anders is only going to fall with your leadership. I could’ve made it great, but dad threw me out as soon as he could because I wasn’t god enough.”

“Is that it then? You will not re-join us?”

“Why join you when I can kill every last one of you right here, right now?” She grins and when Kory is close enough, she swings the sword in her hands at her. It glows, just like Barbara’s own, though she narrowly misses when Kory, in preparation for an incoming attack, ducks.

Kory herself forms a fireball in her hand and throws it at her sister, sending her flying across the hall.

Dick and Wally quickly join her, blocking further attacks from Koma once she recuperates and leaving an opening for Kory to hit her once again with her magic.

After the barrage of attacks, Koma falls to the ground, breathing becoming shallow. Barbara hears footsteps behind her and assumes it’s the rest of the Blue Lions when the first to show up is Rose, who only nods to her.

Kory holds her hand out above Koma, fireball forming in her hand one more time, “The Thunderbrand. Hand it over.”

“Ugh… you spoiled children are all the same,” Koma gasps, “You’re only interested in yourselves. No wonder the kingdom is collap-,” she cuts off when suddenly the sword stops glowing yellow and instead begins to thrash around in her hand, turning red. The stone in the middle of the handle begins to glow red and black, with black guck quickly emerging from it and beginning to climb up Koma’s arm. She stands up and tries to let go of the sword as it’s consumed by the guck but it stays stuck to her hand, “What the hell?! Get this off me!”

“What’s going on?!” Kory exclaims but Wally quickly pulls her up on his steed.

“I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about this. Come on!”

As the black guck consumes her sister, Dick and Wally ride away from her as fast as they can so they aren’t caught up in it either, quickly reaching the others on the other side of the room. When they turn back around, her sister is gone, and in her place stands a four-legged monster, its head covered by what appeared to be a skull and eyes glowing red. It roars at them and runs in their direction.

“Stand back!” Barbara exclaims, running ahead and readying herself for the monster. Was this what the archbishop meant? How could she have known that this would happen? Why did she hide it? In any case, she hoped Dinah was right when talking about the power of the sword in her hands, otherwise she was in deep trouble.

When the monster is almost at her throat, Barbara swings her sword with as much force as she can, her own crest activating and sending the beast flying at the wall, “Artemis, go!”

Artemis quickly pulls out an arrow and shoots it at the monster while it’s down, though it’s not enough to keep it at bay.

Before it can properly get up, Alfred, Victor and Rose all charge at it, swinging their weapons so that it stays down and is unable to get back up, “What is this thing?!” Rose shouts back.

“It’s Koma!” Wally informs her, joining the group, “Or… what used to be her? Is that what happens when you use a hero’s relic?”

Barbara looks down at her own sword, uncertain of how to answer Wally’s question. Was it going to happen to her? No, Dinah would have probably warned her… then again, she didn’t warn her about this either.

Sensing her hesitation, Dick throws her the sheathed sword he kept at his side at all times. She drops the Sword of the Creator and uses the one he just gave her, nodding at him in appreciation. When she sees an opening, she strikes down at it, seemingly delivering the final blow as it screams out it’s last breath and falls to the ground.

The Blue Lions all take a step back, and the black guck dissipates before their eyes, returning Koma and Thunderbrand back to them.

Kory approaches her sisters’ body and looks down at the sword before picking it up. It glows again, this time yellow, “I will carry it back to the monastery, for everyone’s safety. My family has not had problems wielding such a weapon before, and I do not think her fate will meet me either.”

“If that’s what you think is best,” Barbara tells her and gives Dick his sword back before going to pick up her own, “Although all of that being said… I have to talk to the archbishop. That… she didn’t tell me about that. I don’t know what she was thinking endangering all of you like this.”

* * *

**_It appears that the archbishop is once again hiding something from you._ **

Sothis stops her right outside the audience chamber when she pipes up again in her head after staying quiet for a surprisingly long time, “Yeah, I don’t like it either. Bruce doesn’t trust her, and I don’t either but it doesn’t seem like we have much of an option right now.”

**_I know that is not the whole truth. You worry about the little ones, correct? You know we share one mind._ **

“I- yes,” Barbara agrees, “My sword stopped the beast today. Dick has been getting better at leading and taking charge but… they’re still just students. I know some of them have experience on the battlefield but I worry about what would have happened if I wasn't there. Would Sir Alfred have stopped the beast? Would anyone?”

**_If you are to stay here then, and selfishly I hope you do, then you must get some answers from the archbishop. Why does your sword not have that red rock in it, like the Thunderbrand, or the Luin of that red-headed woman? Are you able to safely wield that weapon, or will you fall to the same fate? I do not know how much I can help you if you become a monster, you know._ **

“Yeah, I guess turning back time will be pretty difficult if I can’t think coherently any longer.”

With no further words from the girl in her head, Barbara opens the doors to the audience chamber and steps inside, only seeing Dinah at the end. Not even Karen was anywhere to be seen, a fairly rare occurrence that Barbara had noticed as of recently, “Kory is on her way to House Anders territory to return the relic there. I didn’t think to bring it here considering what we witnessed.”

“I would have preferred you to bring it here,” the archbishop admits with a sigh, “We could have kept it safe from the rest of Koma Anders’ clan. Alas, it is the relic of that house and they are the one’s who must decide it’s fate. I did not ask for you to come here for that reason alone. Although you may disagree with this, you must not tell anyone about what has happened at Conand Tower. I hope you can warn your students of the same in time.”

“Not tell anyone?” Barbara asks, “We saw another person turn into a monster. Is this not something we should raise concern about? What if it happens to me, while I’m on the battlefield? Or worse, in class? I can't hurt my students.”

Dinah shakes her head, “It is not something that can happen so easily. You are worthy of the Sword of the Creator, as one who bares the Crest of Flames. You alone can wield it. Only those with crests may wield the hero’s relics. Lady Kate is able to wield the Luin as she has the crest of Daphnel. Kory is able to safely carry the Thunderbrand back to her territory as she has the crest of Charon. You have nothing to fear, as long as your crestless students do not try to touch the Sword of the Creator or any other hero’s relic, you should have nothing to worry about.”

“Right...” Barbara trails off, not entirely content with that explanation, “You couldn’t have warned me before we left?”

“I did not think Koma Anders would be foolish enough to attack you with the weapon. She was a thief and a traitor, if Sir Alfred’s report is anything to go by. She has met the end she deserved.”

“I’ll see what I can do then. Best talk to them immediately,” she replies bitterly and turns around. Dinah doesn’t seem to have further business for her, so Barbara walks downstairs and makes a beeline for the classroom in hopes of finding her students waiting for her. She’s only partially disappointed when she only finds Dick inside, “I know Kory left, but where is everyone else?”

“Dining hall, training, kitchen, garden... everywhere really,” Dick shrugs, hair still dripping from the bath he must have come back from not long ago, “I can probably find them if you need me to. I’m guessing by your expression the meeting with the archbishop didn’t go too great?”

“She doesn’t want us to say what happened at the tower.”

“I’m not surprised,” Dick scoffs, “The Church of Seiros kind of relies on it’s believers to think that crests and relics are all-powerful. I’m sure Kory already told you about her family situation, given that you weren’t surprised by Koma’s outburst at all.”

“Is it like that everywhere?”

“In Fodlan? Kind of,” Dick admits, “The Kingdom is the worst when it comes to that. In Adrestia, you can still be a noble without a crest, even if that’s quite rare. In the Leicester Alliance, before Roy showed up everyone was terrified of what would happen to their leadership since Duke Harper’s heir died and he didn’t have any others with a crest. But in Faerghus? You can be disowned for not having one, like Koma was. I’m only going to be king because I have the crest of Blaiddyd, and if I don’t have children with my crest, the country is going to fall into chaos.”

“That’s a lot to carry on your shoulders.”

Dick nods, “It’s not. It’s only a fraction of the problems plaguing the Kingdom. Why do you think everyone wants me to get on the throne as soon as possible? I’ve barely even finished my studies here and everyone already has hopes that I’m going to fix everything wrong with the system. I’m going to try, obviously, but it’s not only down to me.”

“No, and the Church would probably stop you as well,” Barbara admits, “Perhaps then it is best if I allow the rumours to spread and inform Dinah that I was not able to stop the others in time?”

Dick shakes his head, “We should make some attempt at telling the others. At least then we will have some eye-witnesses to back us up.”

“You want to inconvenience her too?”

“It’s a bad idea,” Dick admits, “If the Church loses power then so does the Kingdom… but I also think this information shouldn’t be hidden. Let the archbishop weave her own lies to cover up for this if that’s what it comes down to. Let me think…” Dick hums in thought before speaking aloud again, “We should try the dining hall first, then casually stroll throughout the rest of the academy in hopes of maybe, but probably not, finding everyone and stopping them from sharing this terrible, awful thing.”

“Yeah, that’s the correct thing to do,” Barbara agrees with a grin and heads back towards the door with him. They don’t even reach it before Karen opens it wide, making them both feel like they just got caught in a compromising situation. Not that the previous colluding made that feeling any better, “Uh, we were discussing the mission at Conand Tower. Is everything okay?”

“What? No. Have either of you seen Kara?” Karen’s distraught expression tells them whatever Karen was doing, it wasn’t trying to catch them in the midst of a conspiracy, “My cousin. She’s nowhere to be found.”

“She’s probably down at the market,” Dick tells her, “I’ve heard she really likes staring at the fish in the pond, maybe she went to get some?”

Karen shakes her head, “No, Kara never leaves the monastery by herself. If she’s not on the grounds of Garreg Mach, then she’s been abducted.”


	12. Rumours of a Reaper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artemis learns something about Bette, Wally and Vic cook and Bette gets easily distracted by Zatanna.

Sitting on a bench across from her classroom as she reads her strategy book, Artemis notices the clouds blocking out the sun and the sky growing dark, making it harder for her to read and worried about the rain that was bound to disrupt her. She closes her book while taking note of the page she was on, then puts it on a pile with the others she’d taken out from the library. Just as she’s about to leave, she notices Bette approaching her and sighs, “Wonderful.”

“Hello, Artemis,” Bette says when she gets to her, her tone less friendly than the normal one Artemis is used to head in class, “You seem pretty upset about seeing me here.”

“Don’t you have something better to do?” Artemis spits back in the annoyed tone Bette was expecting from her, “Like... scoffing at some homeless kids or polishing your gold-plated tea set?”

Bette folds her arms before replying in a tone heavy in sarcasm, “It’s silver-plated, and I’ve polished it enough. Why are you so mad at me, Artemis? I know you hate the nobility, but you seem to treat most of the others with a little more respect than me.”

“You really want me to say it?” Artemis asks her and waits to get Bette’s confirmation in the form of a nod, “Because you’re the embodiment of the entitlement I hate about the nobility. Tim actually works hard and puts in the effort, Zatanna has an interest beyond becoming an heir, Kory is functionally a hostage and Dick at least checks his privilege and wants to make a change. You just sit back and expect to do well because you’ve never had anything taken from you.”

“...well I appreciate the honesty, even if it’s wrong,” Bette assures her, “I might not be doing great in class, but unlike everyone else here I have no talent. I was never supposed to come here. I was supposed to just sit back in Kane territory, look pretty, and pass on my crest to the child of the richest suitor. If Dick wants to change the world in which the path I take is dictated by everyone but myself, I’m right there with him, and I’ll offer whatever it is I can do to achieve that.”

Artemis cocks an eyebrow, having expected some kind of argument about how she’s better than her and doesn’t deserve to walk on the same ground she’s walking, “Wait... you honestly believe that? As in, you don’t want your title?”

Bette shakes her head, “I only want it because I have no control over whoever would take it from me. I can’t guarantee that the next Margrave won’t just steal from my people to enrich themselves, or that they’ll subject them to laborious work and barely compensate them or refuse to aid the Kingdom when others need our help. I don’t think nobility is a free pass out of anything, it’s a job I have to take up and make sure I do well in it.”

“Well...” Artemis trails off, “I’m sorry I judged you so quickly. I gotta stop putting my foot in my mouth.”

Bette chuckles and waves her hand around, “Well if that’s the only reason you didn’t like me, then I’m not mad. Honestly, most of the other noble jerks around here act exactly like you described, so judge away. Maybe it’ll push them into being better leaders if they actually interact with the people they’re supposed to be helping.”

* * *

“As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Kara has gone missing,” Barbara says when she enters her classroom, getting right down to the details before she even checks if all of her students were there, “Our mission, everyone’s mission this month, is to find her and punish those who kidnapped her.”

“Are we sure she’s been kidnapped?” Wally asks, raising his hand at the same time, “I mean... I’ve heard how overbearing Karen was to her. What if she just met some suave knight and ran off with him?”

“Wally!” Artemis exclaims from the other side of the classroom, “What is wrong with you?”

“That’s pretty offensive,” Zatanna agrees, as does the rest of the class. Wally looks to the only person he hopes will back him up, but even Dick shakes his head.

“No I’m not backing you up here. That was messed up even by your standards.”

“In any case,” Barbara brings the attention back to her, “If anyone knows anything, please inform me, any other faculty member or one of the knights.”

“Is there anything we know about her disappearance already?” Vic asks.

“It’s unlikely she’s left the monastery,” Barbara tells them, “None of the guards have seen anyone carrying her out and she doesn’t leave on her own. She’s likely to still be here, but the monastery and the underground tunnels are large enough that it’s proven difficult to find her. In any case, we’ll still have regular lessons, but keep an eye out for any suspicious behaviour. For now, we will be beginning our lesson. Today we’ll be focussing on sword techniques.”

* * *

To find Kara, the faculty had been asked to start carrying out night patrols in hopes of finding anyone who didn’t look like they should’ve been at the monastery sneaking around at night. Even so, Barbara had her own suspicions and that included her belief that it might’ve been someone from the faculty who took Kara in the first place.

She had no evidence to back up her claims yet, so she agreed to take on the first night patrol, and luckily for her one of her students was eager to find the missing girl as soon as possible, and she finds him waiting outside her dorm, “Professor,” Vic nods at her, “Where should we begin?”

“The library could be a good place. We’re supposed to check every section of the monastery and keep looking until 1AM, and with all of the students having left the library by now, it could be somewhere our kidnapper might be hiding,” Barbara suggests, “I doubt it myself but… we should still look.”

Vic nods again and lets her walk ahead to lead him up to the library through the moonlit courtyard and dark hallways. The only light around comes from the candles they held in their hands, at least until they reached the library and found another light inside, “Maybe I was wrong…” Barbara mutters as she peeps inside, “There’s someone in here.”

“This late? That can’t be good,” Vic walks ahead and lifts his light up to where he can see a figure moving in the dark, “Stop right there!”

The figure quickly puts a book into the shelf and turns around, showing his face in the light while clearly still trying to adjust his own eyes, “Vic? What are you doing here? How come you’re not asleep?”

“Your Highness,” as soon as the realisation hits him, Vic bows his head, “I apologise. I thought you might have been the kidnapper. The professor and I are on patrol right now and didn’t expect to see anyone in here.”

Dick looks behind him when Barbara walks into the room holding her own candle and bringing in more light. He sighs deeply, “Yeah, I guess it was stupid of me to be out late like this when we’re already looking for suspicious behaviour. I got caught up in a book and didn’t want to leave until I finished it. I’ll be on my way, no need to attract unnecessary attention.”

Dick picks his own candle from the table he must have been sitting at and leaves the library with a wave back at the two of them.

When he’s out of sight, Vic walks over to the bookshelf and picks out the book that was still slightly protruding out of the bookshelf, clearly the one Dick had tried to hide from them. He finds a piece of paper in one of the pages being used as a bookmark and opens it up, “It’s a ledger.”

“A ledger?” Barbara asks and glances towards the book, “Why did he lie to us? I don’t think Dick would be that invested in something so dull.”

“These are all donations from a man called Lord Luthor, a noble from the Empire. He made substantial contributions to the church every month, right up until the Tragedy of Duscur,” Vic observes from the dates listed in the book, “A month before it happened, the donations stopped and he has donated since.”

“That’s a little weird but…” Barbara trails off, “The tragedy of Duscur had nothing to do with the Empire, did it? So why is Dick interested in this random lord?”

“I don’t know, but he’s been here too many times for it to be satisfying his curiosity,” another voice joins them from further in the library, revealing his face when he walks into the candlelight. Roy points to the desk Dick was sitting at before he left, “I noticed he’d been leaving his dorm late at night for the past couple of weeks and got curious. Every time he’s come in here and he’s been pouring over old ledgers, old documents, really anything surrounding the tragedy. Obsessively, almost.”

“I would like to say I’m surprised but…” Vic trails off, “His Highness has believed for years that the people of Duscur weren’t behind his parents murder. He’s told me before that the only reason he’s interested in coming to the monastery is in search of answers.”

“I can’t say I blame him,” Barbara comments, looking down at the ledger, “He lost everything he had in front of his eyes and still can’t find closure after all these years? That’s bound to make you a little…”

“Crazy?” Roy suggests.

“I was going to say something more tactful, but if that’s how you want to phrase it.”

Roy only shrugs it off, “In any case, if you’re wondering about his suspicious behaviour, I can vouch for him. The only creepy thing he’s been up to is coming here every few nights when no one else has been around. I don’t blame him. If he finds something here, he needs but ends up being ‘inappropriate’ by the church’s standards, he’ll lose it.”

“Why do you say that?” Barbara asks.

“Because I’ve had Karen take a book from me in the middle of reading it and throwing it out for that reason,” Roy tells her, “I mean, you’ve seen the ripped pages in the books, haven’t you? You also borrowed the flora and fauna book.”

“That was you?”

“Karen had some kind of interest in taking books that discussed things like the Hero’s Relics or the Ten Elites or Nemesis, even discussing dragons for whatever reason. If any behaviour in this place is suspicious, it’s that. Since you’re new here I figure you won’t tattle on me for destroying academy property?”

Barbara shakes her head, “I… have my own reasons to distrust them. I hope you can share these pages with me some day, but your secret is safe with me. Vic?”

Vic nods, “I have no interest in defending the church of Seiros. But I do have an interest in protecting His Highness. Come wake me up next time you plan on following him here late at night.”

“Saves me the trouble of staying up this late. Been getting tired of watching his princeliness read books all night.”

* * *

At the end of class, Barbara looks up when the light on her papers is blocked from a figure standing over her desk. The red-headed teacher looks up to see one of her students waiting for her to look up before speaking, “Rose, can I help you?”

“You wanted suspicious intel, right?”

“Anything you think could be related to Kara’s disappearance, yes.”

“Well… around the time Kara went missing, I saw Professor Helena run through the courtyard with an eyepatch.”

“Perhaps a student was injured?” Barbara suggests some kind of reasonable explanation, “She does occasionally help injured students in the infirmary, maybe her assistance was needed?”

“Yeah, that’s why I didn’t come here sooner,” Rose admits, “I’ve been asking around and honestly no one’s had any eye injuries recently. I asked cos, well, I have my own theory. I think Slade might’ve taken Kara.”

“That’s a pretty serious accusation,” Barbara admits and stands up so that she can walk to the door and close it in case someone else overhears their conversation, “Do you have any other evidence?”

“Personal experience?” Rose asks, “My piece of shit father is definitely capable of something like this, and he’s the only one on monastery grounds who wears an eyepatch after… well never mind why, but he’s also been missing this whole time.”

“I noticed, but I thought he might have gone on a mission.”

Rose shakes her head in disagreement, “I spoke with the archbishop and the captain. Lady Dinah doesn’t recall sending him on a mission and Sir Bruce is certain that if he’s left the monastery, then he wasn’t informed of it. They both go missing on the same day? That’s a pretty big coincidence.”

“It is,” Barbara agrees, “Well, thank you for doing what you can, I’ll look into this matter myself. I’ll try and see if I can locate Sir Slade and if he indeed is gone, I’ll tell the other knights.”

“There’s one more thing.”

“Hm?”

“I spoke with Garfield and Cissie, you know, from the Golden Deer house? Professor Helena is their home room teacher, but she hasn’t been showing up to classes at all. She’s missed a few from time to time but apparently, it’s never been this bad. She hasn’t been seen in the infirmary or anywhere on the grounds of Garreg Mach so… I think we have to assume she’s gone missing too.”

* * *

“Hey there pal,” Wally announces when he strides over to Vic working in the kitchen, “Damn, smells real good. Whatcha making there?”

“Cheesy Verona stew. What do you want?”

“Why do you assume I want something?”

Vic sighs and looks away from the stew, “You’re never in here to help cook or clean, and we’re not exactly the closest of friends. Either you’re here to tell me that His Highness needs help of some kind, which doesn’t seem likely, or you need something. Which is it?”

Wally opens his mouth to counter that but quickly closes it when he doesn’t come up with any kind of excuse he sighs, “Yeah okay. Look the reason I don’t cook is cos I’m not any good at it. Last time I cooked something I made Artemis sick for a week.”

“Explains why she missed class in the last moon.”

“Yeah… so, I was thinking…” Wally looks down at the stew then back at Vic, “I was hoping you could teach me? Back at home I never had to learn that kind of thing cos I helped out with other stuff. You’re an awesome cook, everyone looks forward to when you’re on cooking duty so I was thinking you might have a thing or two you could teach me?”

“You’re sure about that?” Vic cocks an eyebrow, “You’re not worried about what will happen to your reputation once you’re seen with me?”

Wally shrugs, “Not sure if you know this but my reputation isn’t exactly golden here. I mean, the Blue Lions already know everything there is to know about me since Rose doesn’t hold back when it comes to complaining about me, my cousin is in the Golden Deer house and since they’re all gossips it didn’t take long for them to realise what kind of person I am… and uh, well I guess maybe the Black Eagles don’t know much about me but they seem to keep to themselves most of the time anyway.”

“You’re talking about your reputation as a… uh… lady’s man?” Vic poses it as a question, unsure of how to phrase that politely but since Wally seems to accept it, Vic continues, “That’s one thing, it’s another to be associated with someone from Duscur. You’ve heard what people say about me, and His Highness for even accepting me into the palace.”

Wally shrugs once again, “Yeah, so? Dick doesn’t care, Rose doesn’t care, none of us care. Most of us know that the people of Duscur are innocent, and even if they aren’t, you’re not the same people. Pretending like you are isn’t going to fix the ongoing situation, it’s only going to alienate everyone. So, you gonna teach me? I can uh, take up your cleaning duty in return?”

“You don’t even do yours.”

“Hey I’m not perfect, but I’m willing to admit that.”

* * *

“Professor?” Artemis asks, knocking on the open door of Barbara’s dorm. Her teacher sits at her desk, reading a book, but she looks to her student when he hears her, “Rose told me you’re investigating Sir Slade, right?”

“I am,” Barbara nods and closes her book. She points to the chair next to her and motions for Artemis to step inside and sit down, “What can you tell me?”

“It’s not much but... not long after Kara left, I saw Slade go into his quarters, but I never watched him leave. Actually, I asked Lady Kate if she could check and the doors been locked the whole time. Another thing- he was missing his eyepatch, and I haven’t ever seen him without it. Counted that as suspicious and figured you’d want to know.”

“Well if Kate couldn’t go in there’s little I can do...” Barbara trails off in thought, “Although, as a knight of Seiros he is supposed to answer to Bruce and given our connection, I’m sure I could get his assistance on it.”

“The Knights that are here are all supposed to be looking for Kara anyway,” Artemis points out, “Highly likely we won’t even need to persuade him, just tell him what’s going on.”

Barbara stands up and leaves her dorm room, followed immediately by Artemis, “Then we have no time to waste. Have you seen him around?” When Artemis shakes her head, Barbara turns to the direction of the reception hall, “Then he’ll be in his quarters, I haven’t seen him leave that place much outside of going to the dining hall to eat or to go out on a mission.”

Artemis has nothing else to add, other than trying to come up with a good enough reason not to go with her. There were few things that frightened her, and since meeting him, Bruce has become one of them. Given that Barbara didn’t seem to fear him one bit, that alone was enough to make Artemis wary of her own teacher.

Not that it should be at all surprising given their titles of the Blade Breaker and the Crimson Demon. Even Artemis had heard the stories of the woman who slashed at her enemies with little to no emotion on her face as they fell to the ground. Artemis thought herself to be pretty capable on the battlefield, but she hoped that she would never be on the other end of the Sword of the Creator.

The thoughts plaguing her are completely whisked away when she realises, she’s waiting outside the office with her teacher, who knocks on the door.

“Enter.”

Barbara pushes against the door and finds Bruce writing in some small book that he quickly closes when he sees that Barbara isn’t alone, “Barbara, and Artemis, correct?”

“Yes sir.”

Bruce shakes his head, “There’s no reason to call me that. I’m not a noble of any kind, just a mercenary.”

“Don’t you have the Crest of Seiros?” Artemis dares to ask, “I mean, it’s pretty uncommon to have a crest and not be a noble. Not to mention it’s completely different from the professors crest.”

“I wasn’t aware you were interested in such things,” Bruce cocks an eyebrow, “if that’s what you wished to discuss, perhaps we can arrange a conversation some other time.”

Barbara cuts in before that goes on, “No, we aren’t interested in crests. We wanted to get into Slades room but it’s locked. Rose already had her suspicions about him, Artemis saw him go to his room but never leave, and Lady Kate confirmed that it’s locked. Considering this all happened around Kara’s disappearance... well I’m sure you can draw conclusions from it yourself.”

“It’s circumstantial.”

“It’s the best we have?” Barbara sighs, “I know it’s not much, but I don’t have any other suspicions, unless you know something I don’t that you’re hiding from everyone else. I hope I don’t need to remind you that now is not a good time for that.”

Bruce narrows his eyes at Barbara, but she doesn’t flinch away.

Yeah. Artemis would definitely have to keep an eye out for her.

“I’ve had my own suspicions against him,” Bruce admits, “His exile from the Kingdom has been a secret that no one from the royal family has been willing to divulge. It’s made me suspicious of the prince and the king regent, but I’ve been keeping an eye on Slade too. I can’t go barging into his quarters without consent, but I can if the archbishop allows for it. Let me talk to her, you two concentrate on your classes until I can get back to you, alright?”

“It’s some progress at least,” Barbara nods, “Thanks. Talk to you later then,” she leaves the office with Artemis and closes the doors behind her.

“Bruce is suspicious of Dick? Why?”

“Bruce trained Dick for a year a little while ago,” Barbara tells her, “I wasn’t in Fodlan at the time, I was with some other mercenaries in Dagda. Bruce is trying to clear his consciousness, because if Dick did something unforgivable then its Bruce’s fault for teaching him to do those things. Given how the King regent has been trying to keep that entire conflict under wraps there’s a good chance it’s something that would show why Dick can’t be the next king.”

“You think he’s unhinged?” Artemis asks, “I mean... I’ve seen the guy break a bunch of plates and forks, but I think that’s just his crest, not his temper. If he’s really unhinged, then he’s certainly good at hiding it under a deep facade of nice guy prince.”

* * *

“Again? Ugh!”

A crumpled piece of paper comes flying out of Bette’s dorm just in time for Zatanna to hear her groans. She picks the letter up from the floor and peeks inside, “Are you okay, Bette? You sound incredibly frustrated.”

“I am,” Bette groans once more and points to the letter, “My uncle has asked me to return to House Kane this weekend so that I may meet another one of my suitors. He’s super rich but I already know he made his fortune on countless wars, taking from those he defeated. I’m not interested in his blood money.”

Since Bette doesn’t stop her, Zatanna opens up the letter and speed-reads the whole invitation, “Well... he’s not saying you have to marry him?”

“No but I’ve already turned down countless others. I’m worried that soon my uncle will stop letting this be an option for me and force me into a marriage with someone even worse than this person. Must be lucky to be arranged to marry a nice guy like Tim, huh?”

Zatanna looks away from the letter, “Actually... thanks to the whole Western Church fiasco that’s been called off. Since I haven’t graduated either my position as the next lady of House Zatara isn’t secure either so I’m not even sure if I have a title anymore...”

“Wait seriously?” Bette stands up from her desk, “Okay well then never mind my stuff, we gotta go to Fhirdiad at once. There’s no way the king regent can just let this happen; he’s going to lose a trusted ally!”

“House Zatara is the biggest region in Faerghus but we don’t have much to offer considering the Western Church turned out to be traitors,” Zatanna sighs, “I think it’s maybe for the best if we’re split into multiple territories right now.”

“No way!” Bette exclaims, “You’re one of the kindest people I know, and there is no way that we can let someone else take over such a large portion of our kingdom. Tomorrow we’re talking to the professor and asking her if we can have a day off so we can all travel to Fhirdiad and demand you receive your rightful title.”

“And you’re going to back me up on this?”

“No, _we’re all_ gonna back you up on this,” Bette insists, “Besides, you really think that they’re going to turn down a request from the future Margrave of House Kane, Lord of House Drake, Countess of House Anders and the king? Worst comes to worst we stage a coup, get Dick crowned and you’ll get your title back! Sound good?”

“Bette no that sounds like a terrible idea-.”

Before she can finish her thought, Bette’s already running out of her room to get the others, “It’s a fantastic idea! Everyone’s gonna love it!”

Zatanna shakes her head, “Bette... you really must learn to think before you do.”

* * *

Just as she’s finishing her roast pheasant at the dining hall, her meal with Wally and Kory hits an abrupt end when Vic and Bruce interrupt her, “You have permission to search his quarters,” Bruce informs her, “You’ll have to go on your own.”

“What?” She looks from Bruce to Vic, “Why?”

“I told the archbishop about a mysterious figure showing up Remire village, stealing from the merchants,” Vic informs her, “She has asked the knights to see to that while we investigate Sir Slades quarters. I’ve only seen His Highness on my way here, and he said he would meet us there.”

“No point in waiting then!” Wally blurts out, mouth completely stuffed with what he had left on his plate. Kory leaves the rest of her food untouched and runs in the other direction from them.

“I shall gather rest, as well as retrieve our weapons!”

The remaining three, with Bruce now striding out to assemble the Knights of Seiros, run out of the dining hall and towards the quarters of the Knights of Seiros, passing by Lady Shayera and Sir Clark on their way to the dorm and finding Dick standing just outside the door, “The other knights haven’t seen him in days. I don’t know whether I’ll be happier finding him in here or not. Let’s just hope Kara is safe. Should I?” Dick points to the door and Barbara nods.

His crest activates when he kicks open the door and it almost comes off its hinges, luckily without falling down since the very first thing inside was Helena’s body on the floor in a pool of blood, eyepatch in her hand, “Is she…?” Wally asks when he sees her body.

Dick bends down to check her pulse, “It’s weak, but she’s still alive. No idea how long she’s been in here but we can’t risk it,” Carefully, he picks her up and walks out of the room with her, “I’ll take her to the infirmary then come back when someone competent takes care of her, alright?”

He doesn’t even wait for any kind of confirmation before rushing out of the room, passing the rest of his class on his way out of the knights’ quarters.

“What’s that?” Vic looks to the back and walks to the back of the room. He pushes the bookcase there a little further and reveals a hidden passage down to the catacombs bellow the monastery, “If Kara and Slade are anywhere, it’s probably here. Professor, what should we do?”

“Slade probably knows we’re here,” Barbara thinks out loud, “We can’t stick around and wait for Dick in case Slade decides to run off with her. Follow me,” she pulls the Sword of the Creator out of the sheathe she carried it in at all times and moves past Vic, down to the catacombs bellow.

At the bottom, she’s surprised to find not just Kara’s unconscious body, but another girl from the academy with her, surrounded by multiple mages and swordsmen, as well as the Death Knight, all clearly waiting for their arrival, “I was expecting you to arrive,” The Death Knight informs them in his distorted voice, “You have taken your time in coming down here.”

“It’s over,” Rose tells him, “We know it’s you Slade, as do the rest of the Knights. I’m sure they’ll be back soon once they realise they’ve gone on a wild goose chase.”

“Not before you all die here,” The Death Knight tells them and raises his Scythe, “You may have the Sword of the Creator by your side, but my skills exceed yours, and yet… I still wonder whether you will fall to me, or I will fall to that sword of yours.”

That Barbara was absolutely certain of. The last time they faced off with him, Vic had almost died, and Rose had destroyed her hand in trying to deflect one of his attacks. Or so that would have happened if she hadn’t turned back time.

Even with the improvement they had made over the last couple of months, Barbara couldn’t be certain they would win against the Death Knight, “Death Knight, that is what you go by, right?” He doesn’t reply, so Barbara continues, “We have you surrounded. If you let the girls go, I’m sure the archbishop will be more lenient on your sentence.”

“I have no interest in surrendering,” the Death Knight shakes his head, “It would be far too inconvenient to let you live now.”

On that note, the mages all run towards the Blue Lions, all throwing various spells Barbara had never witnessed before. They glowed purple, just as they had back in the Mausoleum, but she never did get an answer for how they learned that kind of magic.

Just in time, Zatanna and Kory shield them all from the first wave of attacks, with Artemis quickly retaliating by shooting arrows at the mages consecutively. She manages to down one, and once the hail of arrows stops, Wally, Bette and Tim run ahead to take the rest down with their lances.

Just as promised, the Death Knight lunges towards Barbara, who manages to block his attack just in the nick of time. Rose stands by her side and tries to hit the Death Knight, but he instead jumps out of the way.

Barbara sees a swordsman about to take advantage of her momentary distraction, but Vic cuts him down instantly and joins the others in fighting off the mages and swordsmen that were all down here while Barbara and Rose try to hold off the Death Knight.

“Halt.”

Another distorted voice stops them in their tracks, and they all turn their attention to the masked figure that had just appeared. A red and white mask covered their face, with the rest of their body draped in a dark cloak, “You’re having a little too much fun, Death Knight. Come, our work is done here.”

“And who exactly are you?!” Rose shouts.

“I am the Flame Emperor,” the mysterious figure introduces themselves, “It is I who will reforge the world. Until then,” The Flame Emperor looks towards the Death Knight, “We must depart. You can have your fun some other time.”

“Hmph,” The Death Knight scoffs and moves away from the two women attacking him, “Very well then.”

With a flicker of purple light, both the Death Knight and the Flame Emperor disappear, the mages departing as well but leaving behind both Kara and the blonde girl they found her with.

Barbara sheathes her sword and takes a few steps forward, “I suppose this confirms then that Slade and the Death Knight are one and the same but… I’ve never heard of this Flame Emperor. Are they someone any of you are familiar with?”

“Not at all,” Zatanna shakes her head, as do the rest of the Blue Lions in the catacombs, “Although we have to leave that kind of investigation for another time. We should get both these girls to the infirmary and make sure professor Helena is okay. Dick still hasn’t come back.”

“You’re right,” Barbara agrees, “I’ll tell the knights what happened here, they can deal with the Death Knight and the Flame Emperor from here on out.”


	13. Family Feuds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rose learns something new about Rachel, Kory and Tim make plans for the future, the Blue Lions leave on a diplomatic mission, Vic tries to help Dick and Bette and Kate compete over their families greatest treasure.

“You found Kara?” Dick asks when he passes by the Blue Lions on their way to the infirmary, carrying Kara and another blonde-haired girl with them, “And another person too?”

“They’re safe now,” Barbara confirms, “The rest of you go, I’ll brief Dick on what happened.”

Most of the Blue Lions simply accept her command and keep walking, except for Rose who stays behind with the two of them, “Sorry, I think I should be here for this too.”

“It does concern you as well,” Barbara agrees with a sigh, “Slade, or rather, the Death Knight, got away from us. Someone called the Flame Emperor whisked him away before we could apprehend him, but at least we got Kara back, and another student they must have kidnapped at some point.”

“I see…” Dick trails off in thought, “You don’t know who this Flame Emperor is, do you?”

Rose steps in to explain, “Slade masked his voice and we didn’t recognise him in the Mausoleum. I think they might be using magic to do it. Since the Death Knight turned out to be someone we knew, I’m willing to bet the Flame Emperor is also someone we’ve met before.”

“That’s likely,” Barbara agrees, “If we knew who they were, they wouldn’t be masked either. Why cover your face and mask your voice otherwise? Although… I ask that you both keep that to yourselves. If it is someone at the academy, I don’t want to tip them off about this.”

“Alright,” Dick agrees before turning to Rose and giving her a letter he held in his hand, “This isn’t on the topic but I’m not sure when’s the next time we’ll be mostly alone together- Rachel asked me to give you this in private, I guess she doesn’t want you to read it in front of anyone who might be curious enough to ask what it is.”

“And you’re not?” Rose asks with a cocked eyebrow, “I suppose she knows I trust you with my life. Thanks, I guess. I should probably go read this then before Wally or Bette come back and neg me about it.”

Letter in hand, Rose leaves the two of them alone, and just as Dick turns around to look at Barbara, he catches her smiling, “Huh…”

“What?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile so genuinely… I mean, I’ve seen you smile but um…” Dick rubs the back of his neck as his cheeks begin to flush, “N-not like that,” he quickly clears his throat before he begins to stammer even more, “I’m surprised, considering the mission wasn’t completely successful.”

“We got Kara back, and saved another student,” Barbara explains, “The Death Knight got away but I’m glad she’s safe, and since you’re here and haven’t said anything about it, I can only assume professor Helena is alright as well?”

“She’s… pretty pissed off about getting stabbed. She woke up halfway to the infirmary and nearly took my eye out when she thought I was the one who attacked her,” Dick chuckles, “I think she’ll be okay.”

* * *

“Did you really think you’d be doing me a favour?” Rose asks when she finds Rachel sitting in the garden reading a book. Rachel looks around at the students sitting at the nearby tables, and Rose takes the hint, “Fine. My room. Now. Or does Lady Donna require your special attention?”

“Lady Donna is busy attending to private matters back in Enbarr,” Rachel closes her book and stands up, “But I am free at the moment,” she stands up and follows her friend to her dorm room, her seat quickly being taken by some other students. She stays silent the entire way and considering that Rose doesn’t say anything either she assumes the other wants to leave their conversation for when they’re certain no one can hear them.

The white-haired girl unlocks the door and shuts it behind them, first looking around to make sure no one was actually listening to them. When she turns around, she lets out her complaint, “You burned down castle Roth?!”

Rachel shakes her head, “No, that wasn’t my doing... it was those others that wanted to remove any trace of their research after my father’s untimely death. An investigation was underway, so they didn’t want anyone finding out about them. This is what you wanted, isn’t it? I’m sorry I couldn’t deliver his head to you, but I believe that would raise some eyebrows around the monastery.”

Rose lets out an exasperated sigh, unsure of where to even start, “did you really think I was being literal?! Okay, fine, yes I wanted your father dead more than anyone else, but I didn’t want you ruining your own life.”

Rachel calmly listens to her outburst before explaining her situation, “My father was one of the people who took power away from the imperial family, and for that and many other reasons, Lady Donna despised him as well. It was only a matter of time before he had to be removed, so no, this wasn’t me doing you a favour. I had my own duties to perform for my lord, and I’m certain you understand that more than anyone. And if you’re still worried about me...” she lets out a sigh, “In a few days I’ll be traveling to House Roth in order to formerly ascend as the next count and minister of the imperial household.”

“You’re leaving the academy?” Rose asks, voice lowered and less angry than before.

“I’ll return,” Rachel informs her, “Lord Luthor is going to oversee my duties while I finish my studies here. Although... I never thought you’d care so much for my own well-being.”

Rose rolls her eyes and opens the door to her room, “Well... I do, and if this whole thing has made you feel less guilty about us without damaging you or your reputation then... I guess I’m happy I can put that chapter of my life behind me. Behind the both of us. Just… I really hope you know what you’re doing. You’re the only person from the Empire I can actually trust.”

* * *

A week after the events of the catacombs, Barbara gets an unexpected visit to her class from Karen, and even though she’s sure she didn’t need to give a report to the archbishop about what had happened this time, she still gets nervous, “I thought you already knew everything. Word that the Death Knight escaped with some masked individual called the Flame Emperor went around the academy pretty quickly. Vic and Artemis told you everything since they were as present for these events as I was.”

Karen raises her hands and shakes her head, “Barbara, it’s okay,” she smiles for the first time ever in front of the teacher, “I’m not here to berate you, actually… I’m here to thank you. Kara has fully healed now, as has Tara. She was taken from us last year and since she wasn’t able to finish her classes last year, she’s decided to continue with her brother in the Black Eagle house. All thanks to you and your class.”

“Well… you’re welcome,” Barbara replies awkwardly, “I can’t say that I did all that much, this kind of thing is my job now and it’s not a bad exchange for free food, shelter and 5000 gold a month.”

“It’s a little different in Kara’s case. The reason why I’m reluctant to let Kara out of the monastery at all is because her blood is special. She is the direct descendant of Saint Cethleann, and as a result carries the major crest of Cethleann as well as other things that make her special, making her a target for these kinds of things.”

“Which is why I should join the Blue Lions!” Kara exclaims as she walks in on their conversation, “I’m way safer if I stay with the professor and the other students than I am here with the knights!”

“Kara!” Karen exclaims, “I know your wounds are all healed, but you still shouldn’t be walking around like this.”

“I’m fine now, Karen,” Kara waves her off, “But I’m not wrong. With how much there’s been happening here, I’m way better off sticking with the Blue Lions than I am hiding away here.”

“How about this,” Barbara offers, “This month is the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, correct? The big mock battle?” They both nod, “There is no way something will happen to Kara there, so this could be a practice, of sorts. If we protect her and she stays with us throughout the battle, then you’ll know we can protect her. On top of that, the advanced exams are coming up, that’s a great time for her to prove herself and show that she’s capable of this.”

“The archbishop and I will be monitoring the situation at all times I suppose…” Karen trails off, “Fine, you’re right. This hasn’t been the safest place for Kara, but maybe if she stays by your side, she’ll be alright.”

* * *

“Kory?” Tim walks up to the figure he sees when he approaches the fish pond at the monastery. He’s almost certain he could make out her outline watching the fish swim by in the moonlight, “What are you doing out this late?”

“Tim?” Kory asks, “Oh, I was merely watching the fish. I woke quite late today so I am not tired at all right now and decided to watch the fish and figure out why the professor loves fishing so much… unfortunately I still do not understand. However, I also do not understand why you are out so late as well.”

“I’m on my way back from the library,” Tim tells her, “Funnily enough I’m not even the last one out. Roy and Bette were still hanging back there, I guess Bette must be stressed about exams, dunno what Roy was doing there though.”

When an awkward silence fills the air, Tim chooses to sit down next to Kory and watch the fish with her, “You know… you don’t have to hide your feelings like this. Although I guess that’s pretty hypocritical coming from me of all people.”

“I noticed that the people of Faerghus do not like showing their emotions,” Kory says with a sigh, “I suppose it is something I must have picked up from this side of my family. The people of Tamaran often express their joy or sadness about certain issues but… I believed that being upset about what my sister has done would be inappropriate, given the circumstances.”

“She’s your sister. The two of you grew up together. Sure she betrayed you, she stole a relic and apparently tried to overthrow Faerghus but you must’ve been close to her long ago.”

“Long ago indeed,” Kory confirms, “Koma learned quite early on that she would be disowned, and held it against me when we were younger. However, there were times before that when she was a good sister. She would read to me stories from Fodlan and from Tamaran, she would protect me and my brother when the situation called for it. I suppose it is really my father who I have to blame in this situation. I cannot bring myself to fault Koma for what has happened in the end.”

“Are you going to talk to him about it?”

“No,” Kory shakes her head, “It is of no use.”

“I feel that,” Tim nods, “One fear I definitely have is that one day when we’re all lords and ladies of our houses, we’re just going to fall into the same steps as them. Make sure we have an heir with a crest, that our children are married to the ‘right people’ and die with the knowledge that nothings changed.”

“I cannot allow that to happen. How about we make a promise? If either one of us falls to such a fate, we will ensure the other comes to their senses and realises what they have done? An intervention of sorts.”

“Hoping it doesn’t come to that but, yeah. At least we can keep each other in check like this.”

* * *

“Good morning cla-,” Barbara stops in the door when plenty of faces look in her direction, but almost none of them belonging to those of her students. The only Blue Lions in the Blue Lion classroom were Wally and Artemis, sitting right at the front, “Has something changed that I’m not aware of or...?”

“This was a last minute idea,” Wally tells her, “Dick, Rose, Vic, Zatanna, Bette, Tim and Kory all said they needed to go to Fhirdiad immediately but never really gave us an explanation.”

“We figured it must be a noble thing and Rose and Vic generally don’t like to leave Dick’s side for too long so they went with them,” Artemis explains, “The same week that the Alliance has its round table conference and has asked all of the future lords to join them for experience. Since the two events lined up it made sense for the remaining students to be put into the same class this week.”

Barbara glances over the sea of students and as her eyes reach her desk at the end she notices two folders that didn’t belong to her, “I understand why Professor Helena is in no shape to teach but-.”

“This was what the archbishop told us to do,” Donna interjects, standing up from her seat, “However it was at my suggestion to bring together the three classes given the circumstances. Perhaps she thought you most capable to teach us all.”

“I don’t even know what the rest of you are studying,” Barbara says, a little exasperated, “I know I teach some of you sword techniques and leadership but other than that...”

A blonde haired girl that Barbara hadn’t met before chimes in, “With exams coming up we all know what we have to train... although we also have the Battle of the Eagle and Lion coming up and it would be great to get some tips from the home room teacher of the winning house of our last mock battle.”

“She’s not gonna give away our strategy, Cassie. Please tell me you didn’t think Teach was gonna accidentally reveal that,” Wally tells her.

“That would be ridiculous,” Rachel comments, “The professor wouldn’t know what your strategy is.”

“I’m not sure I follow...” Megan, a Black Eagle she taught swords to, looks at her questioningly, “Are the professors not going to be leading us?”

“Weren’t you paying attention last week, Megan?” A brown haired boy sitting next to Tara asks, “The Battle of the Eagle and Lion is the opportunity for the house leaders to show what skills they have.”

Donna confirms with a nod, “With the unique opportunity to have the future Emperor, Duke and King of Adrestia, Leicester and Faerghus all on one battlefield it’s even more important that our professors do not interfere. That being said, I’m glad to have this opportunity to study under you for this week, teacher.”

“Right...” Barbara draws out, shuffling to her desk at the front of the class, “You are correct that it’s not me who’s making plans for the battle this month, and if Dick already has a strategy, he hasn’t told me. I’m completely unfamiliar with the terrain we’ll be having the battle anyway.”

“Oh it’s in House Beecher territory,” Karen cuts in, “Its the place of the actual Battle of the Eagle and Lion, Gronder Field. Actually back then the King of Lions burned the field down and we haven’t grown anything since so we’ve used it for staging mock battles instead. It’s completely flat terrain in my parents territory.”

“I think it’s easiest then if I just split you all into groups and you can learn from one another...” Barbara looks around the room before taking a few steps to the blackboard and writing her lesson plan on it, “I’ll be checking in with everyone but for now could all of the archers and magic users go to the training grounds and practice there. Lancers, brawlers, axe users and swordsmen go to the training hall. Fliers, I’ll see you at the stables. For now just practice with each other until further instruction. Donna, stay back with me.”

The students all get up and leave the classroom, hopefully to their designated spots, save for, as requested, Donna who walks to the front of the class, “Teacher?”

“Part of being a leader means knowing your allies weaknesses and strengths. Today I’d like you to help me with pointing out what it is everyone should be working on. I’ve noticed you prefer to wield an axe?”

“The relic of House Troy is the Aymr, an axe that can only be wielded by those with the crest of Seiros,” Donna tells her, “I train with an axe here as I expect to one day wield that weapon.”

“In which case I’d like you to go to the training hall and start there first. I will give instruction to the fliers on what they are to do, and hopefully you can manage the first set of instructions on your own. I’m here to help you if you need it of course,” Barbara smiles gently at her in the hopes of calming any nerves she may have about the task, “I’m not grading you on this by the way, I’m only doing it so you can gain some experience.”

“I think I understand why the Blue Lions appreciate you as their instructor. I don’t speak to him often and I thought he might be exaggerating but perhaps Dick was right in singing his praises about you. I regret that you couldn’t teach the Black Eagles House, though I hope that our performance at the Battle of the Eagle and Lion might convince you otherwise.”

Barbara laughs, “Thank you, but I’m unfortunately very happy with my house. That being said, I do hope you and the Golden Deer pose a great challenge to us.”

* * *

“I thought I might find you in here, Your Highness.”

Upon hearing his title, Dick looks up from the book he was reading and quickly closes it, only to sigh in relief when he realises the person at the door was his retainer, “You knew you’d find me in here? I didn’t realise I spent that much time in the library here before we went to the academy.”

“You didn’t,” Vic shakes his head and walks over to him, “You spent most of your days training like it was the only thing that mattered. Now your head's always stuck in a book. I’m only bringing it up because I’m worried about you. Since I got to know you you’ve had terrible sleep but walking around the monastery at night and lying to me about what you’re doing is new.”

“It wasn’t to you,” Dick disagrees, “Let me clarify- I only lied because there were others present. I didn’t want to raise any alarm’s so I lied.”

“Are you going to tell me what you’re up to then?”

“In the royal palace? Definitely not,” Dick shakes his head, “I can give you a hint, which is that it’s something I’ve been searching for a long time. If word gets out that I’m doubting what really happened then everyone will start to think I’ve gone mad, and probably try to put someone much worse than my uncle in power. Someone who agrees with what happened that day and doesn't care for anyone without a title.”

“And staying up all night is going to prevent those rumours?” Vic raises an eyebrow, “I guess they might see it as productive rather than insane. Which now that I say it out loud is your plan, make it seem like you're super serious about your studies. But if you’re really going to pursue this like I hoped you would one day, let me help you. Let _us_ help you. You know the professor would probably want to aid you in this. She’s not exactly impartial.”

“She isn’t,” Dick agrees, “But I’m not involving her in this mess, or anyone else. It’s my duty to see it through. Although… I wouldn’t say no to some tea and some company if you really insist

on helping me with this.”

“It’s the least I can do but… I’m getting to water, not tea., it's just going to keep you awake. You’re not pulling another all-nighter, got it?”

“Ha!” Dick cheers, “Didn’t expect you of all people to stop me from doing something but fine, fine! I’ll finish this up then go to bed, alright?”

“Alright, Your Highness.”

* * *

“Oh you’re all here? Good.”

Bette strides to the front of the dining hall so she may make her announcement to the other Blue Lions present there, “As you all know, since we were all invited to the capital, I decided to visit my house yesterday, and I only learned then that my cousin was visiting as well. Normally I get along with her great, but we started talking about Conand tower and well…”

“You got into a fight over your relic?” Tim concludes.

“She’s older, serves the church and believes that since she has the major crest of Daphnel and I only have a minor one that she’s the one who should wield Luin,” Bette tells them and folds her arms, “But the relics were all given to their houses, not taken back by the church. She doesn’t want a family of her own, so she won’t even be able to pass it down to anyone meaning it’s just going to be reclaimed by the church. As the next margrave Kane, I think that Luin should be mine.”

“You wish to convince her otherwise?” Kory asks, “What is your plan for taking back the relic? I assume you must have one if you brought this to us.”

“Sreng bandits are invading the northern most part of our territory,” Bette gives her plan, “Kate and I came to an agreement; whoever takes out the most bandits is most deserving of the relic. But this is a pretty large group of bandits so just the two of us going could be a problem, which is why I want to ask you guys to help me. You in?”

Dick clears his throat during the awkward silence that follows, “Not to undermine the importance of, uh, _that_ but… we only have permission from the archbishop to come to Fhirdiad for the week. Can’t House Kane provide its own soldiers for this? If you can’t I can probably just send some kingdom soldiers your way.”

Bette shakes her head, “My uncle actually wants us to go completely alone to take care of this, but I think that’s ridiculous. However if you’re concerned about the academy, that’s a non-issue. I’ve already gotten news back about my request to the church and our professor is going to meet us there with Wally and Artemis. She thinks it’s good practice before the Battle of the Eagle and Lion.”

“Looks like we have no choice then,” Rose gets up, “You could’ve just told us it’s an assignment and we would’ve agreed. So what then, you’re leader for this?”

“Ah…” Bette’s eyes widen when she realises what exactly she was getting into, “I’m not the best leader type… Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all.”

“Don’t worry Bette,” Zatanna tries to reassure her, “We all know what we’re doing by now, I’m sure it won’t be a problem for you. We’re to set out shortly, right? Might as well go pack my things then.”

“Yeah… no worries…”

* * *

Barbara had traveled a lot prior to her days teaching at the academy- she was a well-known mercenary before this after all. Rarely did she stay in one place since there was always a job somewhere to do. Which lead her to believe she’d feel uncomfortable staying in one place, doing the same task over and over again.

And yet when being sent to the farthest part of Fodlan for a mission, she found herself hoping that the job would be over soon, and her students would return with her to Garreg Mach. Even seeing them approach from the others side of the field makes her happy, “Are you all ready for the battle?”

“Definitely, though not like most of us even want to be here... guess this is better than Faerghus bureaucracy,” Tim comments and gets his lance out of the convoy, “Didn’t think I’d be saying this but I’m actually really looking forward to going back to the academy and doing my exams.”

“That bad huh?” Barbara jokes before looking out towards the Sreng border, “So, what’s this about bandits?”

Bette steps in to explain, “The Sreng region is mostly made up of multiple tribes with various rules and ways rather than the governments that Fodlan has. The southern most tribes are actually quite powerful and often try to take over our land. Since our weaponry is more advanced and we have a more organised army, it’s not really that much of a problem but it is something we have to fight back every once in a while. Like today. I guess making a competition out of it is a little morbid…”

“It’s the best way to put our skills to the test,” Kate tells her, putting the Luin down into the convoy and picking out a different lance instead, “It would not be fair for me to use the relic so I’m leaving it in the professors hands. Feuding over the relic aside, we do still need to stop these bandits before they reach the nearby villages and begin to pillage them. Bette and I will be on the front lines of course, but we will need some of you to stay back and make sure to deal with any bandits that slip past us.”

“Wally, Kory and I can deal with that,” Dick suggests, “Other than Bette, the three of us are some of the fastest soldiers from the Blue Lions. We should be able to catch up with any of the bandits in no time.”

“Alright, what about the rest of you?”

“Tim, Vic and Zatanna will stay here,” Barbara tells Kate, “They’ll make sure to swap out with you in the battle if you take too much damage. The rest of us will run ahead and take care of their camp, make sure that when they retreat it’ll be all the way back to Sreng. What do you think?”

“A decent plan,” Kate agrees, “Very well. Let us proceed.”

* * *

As usual, as soon as the group returns from their mission the Blue Lions collectively head for the baths to wipe off the blood, sweat and mud that had covered their bodies in their last fight. When Bette tries to go with them, her cousin stops her by putting a hand on her shoulder, “Bette, I want you to know… I never planned on keeping Luin.”

“Huh?” The revelation causes Bette to turn around, “Why did you make such a point of it then? You were pretty convincing in front of uncle you know. Wouldn’t it serve the church well?”

“It’s me who serves them, not the relic.”

“I don’t follow…”

Kate shakes her head, a rare smile appearing on her face, “I couldn’t give such an important weapon to you when I wasn’t sure if you could wield it properly. When we both lived in House Kane you were… well you weren’t the kind of person I would want running the territory one day. But you’ve matured since then, at least when it comes to serious matters. I was going to give you the relic one day, but I needed to make sure I could trust you with it.”

“You didn’t want me to become the next Koma Anders…” Bette sighs but Kate shakes her head.

“I never thought you aspired to overthrow the kingdom… I was more worried that you’d be like the person who let the Thunderbrand fall into her hands through neglect.”

“Okay, that I can live with, and understand,” Bette agrees, “Which is why right now… I’ve handed the Luin over to the professor. I was more upset with you never giving me a chance rather than whether I would wield it one day or not. Since she is the one assessing me, I figure she would know best when’s the right time for me to take it and use it. I think that’s the best thing I can do at this time, right?”

“Right.”


	14. Battle of the Eagle and Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick wakes up Donna, Bette almost kills Tim, Kory has lunch with Artemis, the three houses all battle at Gronder field and Wally gives Dick some advice.

“N-no... please! Stop it! No!”

Walking down the hallway of their dormitory, Dick hears the desperate calls of a woman coming from Donna’s room. He wouldn’t ever think of barging in uninvited, but he couldn’t just stand by. He pulls out the sword he brought with him and slams open the door, the lock doing little against his strength, “Stop whatever you’re doing right now!”

He barely has time to register as a figure lunges at him from the bed and tries to attack him with a dagger. The dagger hits his sword, but as he and the assailant become locked in their stance, their eyes adjust to the darkness, “Dick?” Donna asks him, “What are you doing here? Why did you try to kill me?”

Dick pulls away first and sheaths his sword, “I didn’t try to kill you... I mean, that wasn’t my intention. I heard screams coming from your room, so I had to check in. I thought someone was hurting you.”

“Oh...” Donna turns around to turn on her light and places the dagger on the bedside table, “I see. I was just having a nightmare, you shouldn’t have worried yourself... but, your room is on the other side of the hall,” She thinks out loud, “Was I being that loud?”

Dick shakes his head, “No, I only heard it when I was getting closer to your room. Not that I was planning to come in here and uh...” he turns around and finds the door handle barely hanging off the door, “Break your door. I’ll fix it in the morning if that’s okay, you can sleep in my room if you’d like.”

Donna shakes her head and points to the dagger, “I’m fairly well protected against possible assailants, as you yourself discovered first-hand. I appreciate the concern, but you didn’t have to worry yourself so much.”

“I know how bad nightmares can get.”

“Trauma has that effect on you,” Donna agrees and sits back down on her bed, “What were you doing wandering the halls at this hour?”

“I was getting some water, that’s all,” Dick turns to the door and tries to be more delicate with it when he pulls it open, “That dagger... do you always have it on you?”

“Since I can remember, yes. It’s a good luck charm of sorts. Considering I don’t have a sword sticking out of my chest right now, I’d say it’s done its job.”

“That it has,” Dick smiles and walks out of her room, “Goodnight, Donna.”

“Goodnight, Dick.”

* * *

“It’s almost time for the biggest battle of the year,” Dick smiles and sits on his own desk once everyone’s left the classroom for the day, “Any tips you can give me? I’m the one who’s supposed to lead the charge after all.”

Barbara looks at him with a questioning look, surprised by how casual he had gotten around her. It results in her taking a seat on her own desk for their conversation, “You’re going to have to fill me in first. I’ve been hearing about this battle a lot and I know it’s an important mock battle but uh… I don’t actually know what’s going on with this. Why is it even called that?”

“Oh, that’s easy enough. Fodlan wasn’t always divided between three nations. It was all once part of the Adrestian Empire. Long story short, not everyone agreed with that and my ancestor, the King of Lions, ended up fighting the emperor for independence, which is what was known as the Battle of the Eagle and Lion. The king won and the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus was established. In honour of that, the monastery organises a mock battle between the three houses. There’s a prize for the winner too.”

“Oh?” Barbara perks up. She didn’t need a prize to motivate her students for this but… a reward was enticing nonetheless, “Actually, I have another question. Professor Helena can’t join us cos of her injury, and Professor John as a result has decided to step away from this as well… does this mean I shouldn’t participate either?”

“Not unless the archbishop says something,” Dick shrugs, “Hopefully you won’t take this the wrong way but uh… in this scenario you’re closer to a foot soldier than a general. It does mean we have the advantage of having someone so experienced on our side but since the other house leaders want to challenge you, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be on the battlefield with us. Anything else you need to know?”

“I think that’s all, actually. So, you need a strategy for this, huh?”

* * *

Out on a walk outside of the monastery, Bette expects some peace and quiet, not to suddenly have someone fall out of the tree she was passing by in the woods, “Stop right there!” She exclaims as she reaches behind her and points her relic at the attacker, “I’m sure you know how much damage a student like me- Huh?”

She gets a better look at the assailant and sighs, “You’re trying a little too hard to get stabbed by someone, you know that Tim?”

The student rolls away from her lance and stands up, brushing mud and leaves off of his uniform, “I wasn’t trying to attack you or anything I just... fell.”

“What were you doing up in the tree to begin with?!” She continues to berate him, “you’re lucky I’m not Artemis or Rose or you’d already have this sticking out of you,” she waves the lance in front of him.

“I’m practicing...” Tim tries to explain, “A few years ago, Sir Bruce actually came to the kingdom and was asked to train me and Dick. He was a great teacher but then he got another job and left before he could teach us everything. So now that he’s here, probably more permanently, I’ve asked him if he could teach me again.”

“He agreed?”

“No,” Tim shakes his head, “Not really. He said he’s too busy with captain duties and other things to actually be a private tutor for me again and that his daughter knew everything he did so I wouldn’t need to go to him separately.”

“So what exactly is the point of that story?” Bette asks, putting her lance back in it’s holster, “It doesn’t explain what you’re doing jumping around in the trees like some kind of bird.”

“I’m getting there. I then asked him that if he doesn’t have time to watch me train, does he have any exercises he thinks I could do in my free time. So he told me to go to the forest outside Garreg Mach and jump around on the branches here to practice my balance, strength and dexterity. No idea if it works yet or if he just sent me off here so I wouldn’t bother him anymore, but it’s not like I have anything else to do right now.”

Bette looks up at the branches on the trees, then looks around before turning to Tim, “I don’t know how much it’ll help without a partner but uh… look, if you promise not to tell anyone, I guess I can help you out. When we were younger, Kate and I actually chased each other around like that. I can’t say it’s going to help you with anything but… well it sounds like a lot of fun and I’m tired of hearing about stuffy nobility stuff.”

“Why are you so embarrassed about this?” Tim cocks an eyebrow, “You really think you’re going to get a bad image if someone catches you jumping around in the trees?”

“Yes? We’re the future heirs of House Kane and House Drake, of course there’s an image to maintain!”

Instead of arguing back, Tim turns back around and begins to climb the tree he fell out of, “The way I see it, we don’t have to be _stuffy nobility stuff_ for another few years, and if some empire or alliance noble has a problem with me climbing up trees, that’s their problem. Now, you coming or not?”

* * *

Barbara walks through the door to Bruce’s office when she sees that it’s opened, but he motions for her to close it behind and take a seat across from his desk, “Kory said you were looking for me. I’m guessing this is important if it couldn’t wait.”

“You’re participating in the Battle of the Eagle and Lion this month, right?” Bruce gets a quick reply when Barbara nods, “I’m sorry but I won’t be able to stay around and watch that. I’m being sent off for a mission in the kingdom.”

“The kingdom?” Barbara asks, “Sounds like there’s a lot of turmoil going on there. I was just there with my class last week. What now?”

“It’s confidential,” Bruce sighs, “Not that I want to hide anything from you, but it’s got to do with cleaning up the mess of the Western Church. That’s all I can say on the matter,” he opens up a cupboard in his desk and pulls out a small book that he sets on the desk, “I don’t expect this to be a problem but if anything does happen to me, I need you to look for this and take it before the church or any of the three lords get their hands on it.”

“You still don’t trust them then?”

“I never trusted the church, the alliance kid is constantly snooping around, the empire girl has been going back and forth between Enbarr and the academy every month and your student… he’s delusional. So no, I don’t trust them.”

“Dick is delusional?” She couldn’t say she disagreed with the other assessments but that one came out of nowhere, “I haven’t noticed him having any issues of that kind. This isn’t even the first time you bring up your dislike of him.”

“I don’t dislike him… I met him after his parents were murdered,” Bruce explains, “Back then he was full of rage, clearly needed an outlet but I didn’t stay around long enough to provide him with one. Now a few years later at the academy he’s completely fine on the surface. Except you know he stays up late, has constant nightmares and is obsessed with looking for the truth behind the tragedy. There’s more if you need proof.”

“I think you’re projecting,” Barbara shakes her head, “It’s been years since you’ve seen him, people change, especially at that age. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll keep an eye on him. But Dick isn’t evil.”

“He’s not,” Bruce agrees with her, “But he’s not looking for the perpetrators for some noble goal. He’s looking for revenge, and trust me when I say, that doesn’t lead anyone down the right path. I’m asking you not to tell him all of my secrets should something happen to me. I guess what I’m also asking you to do is make sure he doesn’t do something he’ll regret on this quest he’s on. There’s nothing good waiting for him on the other side.”

* * *

As usual, Artemis chooses to sit by herself in the dining hall for lunch, unbothered by some of the dirtier looks she was getting from the nobles. It seemed like by now everyone knew that she hated the nobility and believed her to either be a hypocrite for attending such an elite academy or saw her as a threat to their delicate system.

However, their circle of Blue Lions didn’t seem to much care for her views, especially Kory, who upon seeing Artemis all alone, joins her for lunch, “Hello friend! Would you mind if I joined you?”

“Doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice in the matter… go on,” Artemis mutters, picking at her beast meat teppanyaki, “Why exactly do you want to do that? We’re polar opposites. What could you possibly want to do with me?”

Kory inspects her expression, clearly confused by what she was saying, “We are Blue Lions, are we not? We stick together and help each other whenever we can. I sat here in hopes that we could discuss our classes, or the upcoming battle, or any topic you deem to be interesting.”

“Okay…” Artemis thinks for a few seconds before finally coming up with something, “No, I have nothing. I’m sorry, Kory, I’m not exactly the best conversation partner when it comes to casual banter. If there’s something specific you want to ask, go ahead.”

“Why have you chosen that meal for today?”

“Huh?”

“You told me to ask what I wanted,” Kory replies, “So then, I am curious as to why you chose that meal. For me, I often choose meals that remind me of Tamaran. Do you choose meals to eat for nostalgia like me?”

“I guess? I mean…” Artemis tries her best to elaborate, “I don’t really eat any of the nicer stuff here because I’m not used to the taste and honestly, it’s a bit much for me. My family travelled a lot so we mostly ate whatever we could hunt down, and you’ve seen for yourself what’s available in the kingdom. The land is so bad we never really ate anything except meat and fish so… I guess that’s why.”

“I see. I wonder then, were your parent’s mercenaries? The professor has recalled similar stories with her and her father.”

“Something like that,” Artemis replies curtly, “I’m not going to get into it but uh… let’s just say what the professor did was way more noble and admirable than what my family did to get by. Ah…” upon realisation, her eyes widen, “Look, Kory, that’s the most I’ve ever told anyone about my past, and I don’t really want anyone else here finding out where I’m from or how I got here, so we can keep this between us… right?”

“You have my word,” Kory smiles at her reassuringly, “Although, the Blue Lions house is probably the house that would understand the most that you are not your family. We all have our share of trauma associated with that, I’m sure the others would not care for what you did in the past, only for who you are today.”

* * *

As per tradition, on the last day of the Wyvern Moon, the students of Garreg Mach make their way to Gronder field, each house separating and taking their positions and their pre-determined starting point, with the Blue Lions crossing the river and going to the northern most part of the field, “Alright, listen up everyone,” Dick brings the attention to himself, “As we know, the Golden Deer specialise in ranged combat, whereas the Black Eagles prefer to use magic. Whichever house takes out the most opponents wins, which might seem like splitting up is the best course of action, but since we’re mostly cavalry, that’s not a good plan. We’ll move to fight the Golden Deer first so that they can’t come up from behind and take us out when we fight the Black Eagles.”

“What do you want us to do?” Rose asks, readying her sword.

“Zatanna, Kory, Kara and Rose, the three of you will be keeping an eye on our backs and taking care of any Black Eagles heading our way,” Dick tells them, “Me, Wally, Tim and Bette are gonna ride ahead and take out the archers before they take out too many of us, which will let Vic, Artemis and the professor attack the rest of the Golden Deer. Once they’re dealt with, the Black Eagles shouldn’t be so hard. I’ll tell you what to do based on where we’re at by that time. Got it?”

“Yeah,” Wally nods, “Though given how much we’ve trained, and who’s been training us, there’s no way we’re gonna lose.”

“He’s actually right for once,” Artemis agrees with him, “We’re definitely gonna win.”

“Now, now,” Zatanna warns, “We can’t get too cocky, or we’re going to end up eating our words. I don’t think any of us are going to live down a defeat at Roy’s or Donna’s hands…”

“I won’t let you down,” Barbara insists, “we will win,” behind her, trumpets begin to sound as the battle is set to begin soon, “Best get into formation then.”

Dick climbs onto his horse and watches as the Black Eagles and Golden Deer get into formation on the other side of the river, “Just cause we’re friends doesn’t mean I’m going to lose to you!” He taunts at the other side.

Donna laughs back at him, “Against my army? You have no chance of winning!” She shouts back at him from afar.

“You’re all talk and no action,” Roy berates them both, “Best give up now before you both embarrass yourselves in front of everyone.”

They all turn to the hill where the archbishop and her consultant stand, waiting for each of the three houses to finish their preparations. As soon as they’re ready, a knight of Seiros raises the banner of the church, signalling the start of their fight.

Donna doesn’t wait a second to give her first command, “Onwards, to battle!” She pulls out her axe and immediately charges forward to the centre of the battlefield.

On the other side, Roy raises his hand towards the Blue Lions and without a word, the Golden Deer rush forward.

“No time to waste,” Dick mutters before raising his lance and pointing it towards the Golden Deer, “Go!” As soon as the words leave his mouth, he rides off towards the Golden Deer, Wally, Bette and Tim not far behind him, with Barbara, Vic and Artemis following them.

Kory, Rose, Kara and Zatanna stay back as the Black Eagles arrive on their side of the field quicker than the Blue Lions had anticipated. Flying on a Wyvern, Garth comes in swinging his spear at Kory, who manages to deflect it with the sword she had opted to bring for the fight, “Leaving behind only your mages was a mistake,” he warns them, but while he’s distracted trying to fight Kory, he doesn’t notice the fireball coming at him. His armour protects him from any serious damage, but he’s thrown off his Wyvern and onto the ground. Kory points the sword at his neck and smiles.

“Underestimating our power was yours,” She looks to Kara and nods with appreciation for the save, however it’s short lived when the other Black Eagles make their way to her, Cassandra flying in after Garth but waiting on the other side of the bridge for the others to catch up to her.

On the other side of the field, Bette is the first to make it to the Golden Deer, flying out of the way of the arrows coming her way and carefully navigating her way there, reaching her first enemy before the others had even made it there. She throws a javelin in Cissie’s direction and immediately after follows it up with a swipe of her lance at the archer.

Cissie manages to get out of the way quickly enough and shoots another arrow but ends up hitting her in her armour where the arrow only bounces off and gives Bette another chance to down her enemy. Bette flies in again, this time effectively knocking her down and pointing her lance down at her enemy, “Yield Cissie, remember we’re not here to actually hurt each other.”

“Fine, fine, I yield,” Cissie stands and raises her arms up, leaving her bow behind, “Just cause I’m out doesn’t mean you’re gonna win. There’s no way Dick came up with a better strategy than Roy.”

Behind her, Bart tries to sneak up on Bette and hit her with his own lance, but Wally rides in just in time to block him and stop the attack, “Sorry, cuz, can’t let you do that.”

“Aw come on!” Bart whines and moves away before slashing at Wally this time while Bette goes to take care of some of the other archers, “what if we tried to team up to take care of the Black Eagles first? Promise not to stab you in the back?”

“Hell no!” Wally blocks the attack and goes for Bart’s chest with his own lance, “I’m not going to trust you for a second!” Too fixated on the attack, Bart isn’t fast enough to block the hit and falls off his horse, “Besides, siding with the losers isn’t going to look very good, you know?”

“Ugh, you’re the worst,” Bart replies, rubbing the back of his head after it hit the ground bellow them, “Well I guess better to have a win in the family than give it to the Black Eagles. If we don’t win then good luck man.”

“Thanks! We will!” Wally replies cheerfully before leaving his cousin to fight the rest of the Golden Deer.

Back on the other side of the field, Rose tries her best to stop the Black Eagles from following after their group, quickly downing Cassie when she does finally cross the river and immediately afterwards becoming locked in a battle against Megan, who keeps her away by continuously shooting lighting at her out of her hands. Rose dodges each attack but doesn’t come any closer to the mage, “Stop jumping around already!” Megan complains, “You can only dodge my attacks for so long before you get tired.”

“And you can only keep shooting at me for so long before you realise, I’m not even trying to fight you!” Rose calls out right before Kara casts a spell and a ray of white light hits Megan from behind, knocking her out, “Didn’t realise white magic could even be used offensively.”

“It’s what happens when you’re stuck in the academy all day long,” Kara only shrugs as a reply.

Behind them, Zatanna stops Karen’s fire attack on Kory with her own magic, forming a barrier between the two of them while Kory tries to fight Jaime off with her sword even as he tries to knock her down with his lighting magic, “We might be friends, but no way am I giving the win to you!” Karen shouts to Zatanna right before choosing to attack her instead.

“Man, for a mock battle everyone’s taking it so seriously,” Jaime says to Kory, “We don’t even know what the prize is!”

“I agree,” She says, despite swiping at Jaime’s chest, “However, without the prize this is good training, and I will do my best not to let my team down!”

“Oh I agree with that!”

When the archers are all dealt with, save for one, Barbara runs into the fray and aims to take care of their leader, but she’s stopped when Gar comes out of nowhere, and Conner and Kaldur cut off her exit route. Surrounded by the Golden Deer, Barbara raises the Sword of the Creator in anticipation of their attack, “Winning against the professor has to count for like… double, right?!” Gar cheers, but Kaldur is quick to dismiss him.

“Focus on the task at hand, she is not to be underestimated.”

Conner is the first to lunge at her, swiping at her with his gauntlets left and right. Instead of trying to block the ferocious attacks, Barbara dodges them, only to have Kaldur follow up by slashing at her from the top with his sword. Barbara blocks his attack but knows it’s all over when Gar comes running at her. This must’ve been part of Roy’s plan, to take her out first.

But if she was targeted, that must’ve meant their other heavy hitter was in trouble too.

Not too far from the four of them, Dick raises his lance and waits for Virgil to fly in first. Seeing Violet cast a spell, Dick moves out of the way of the fireball and stops Virgils axe with his lance when the Wyvern rider flies at him. Behind them, Roy readies his arrow, “Come on, Dick, you really thought splitting up like this was a good idea? You’re way too predictable.”

“I didn’t,” Dick grits his teeth and pushes Virgil off him before dodging another one of Violet’s attacks, “Which is why we came here as a team!”

“Huh?”

A volley of arrows comes flying down at them, and while Violet and Roy are able to move quick enough not to get hit, Virgil’s Wyvern isn’t so lucky, panicking and throwing the rider off it’s back. Following up from Artemis’ attack, Tim rides in and throws his javelin at Violet, passing just close enough to draw a blood from her arm. Clutching at it, Violet tries to ready another attack but Tim is too quick, knocking her down with his lance, “Sorry for the cut but… it’s nothing that the priests won’t be able to fix.”

“It is alright,” Violet reassures him, “We all knew what we would be getting into today.”

With the sudden attack from the Blue Lions, Roy sneaks off in the confusion, but Dick doesn’t let him get too far, jumping off his horse to go follow him.

Just as Gar is about to smash his axe down at Barbara, Vic runs in and tackles him to the ground, axe flying out of his hand. Conner turns to try and help him but is met with Bette’s lance at his throat, “Look… we have a lot of faith in our professor but we’d never let her run off on her own like that.”

Just when Kaldur moves and tries one final assault against the professor, she whips the Sword of the Creator in his direction and smacks the sword out of his hand, leaving him defenceless, “Very good effort, you’ve clearly all improved but unfortunately, my class was better,” Barbara congratulates them on their efforts before looking to Bette, “How many are there left?”

“Last I checked, only Roy,” she informs her, “Hopefully the guys know what they’re doing.”

Dick wouldn’t have been at all surprised if Roy had come to Gronder field sometime in the last month to examine the territory around them, meaning that if he wondered off into the forest, he knew exactly what he was doing and Dick needed to remain on high alert.

An arrow passes by him and he blocks the next one with his shield, but given the angle, he knew Roy must’ve been somewhere nearby. He’d seen Artemis shoot enough times to recognise that by now. He hears some rustling in the trees behind him and on impulse turns around, smacking his lance into the tree. With his crest activating at the same time, the tree is knocked down at the archer falls out of it. However, with the impact of it all, Dick’s lance breaks and he picks up the sharp end of it, lunging at Roy to try and get the victory.

“You’re going to try and fight me with a broken lance?!” Roy shouts, block him with his bow, “You know I have the advantage!”

“Not in close combat!” Dick argues and backs away, “And not when I have backup.”

“Backup? What do you mean-,” he feels something poke at his back and sighs, “I didn’t account for West, did I?”

“You did not,” Wally smirks as the archer drops his bow with a sigh.

“Fine, you win, Grayson. I guess I wish you luck. Would feel pretty bad to be completely alone in last place. Give ‘em hell.”

“You got it, Harper,” Dick grins and looks down at his broken lance, “Though that might prove to be more of a problem than we might think… huh.”

“Got you covered,” Wally throws his own lance in Dick’s direction, “I’ll go back to the convoy and get a new one. I think the girls took care of half of the Black Eagles already so the rest shouldn’t be a problem. You good to go?”

“Yeah, tell the rest to head to the Black Eagles. With enough numbers, wining against them should be easy enough.”

With that command, Wally turns around and rides out of the forest, Dick running out behind him to get back on his horse.

As soon as he’s reunited with the other Blue Lions that had crossed the river, he rides towards the Black Eagles, his team following after him, “Bette, go tell the others to move forward, we’ll surround them from both sides.”

“Got it!” She navigates her Pegasus to fly back the rest of the Blue Lions to relay the message while Dick and the others continue to ride ahead.

As they approach the other side of the field, they see Mal and Brion in their way, ready to stop the Blue Lions from attacking their house leader. Dick stops, but Vic and Barbara run ahead to engage in combat with them, Vic throwing a hand axe at Brion as a distraction while Barbara whips her sword at Mal.

The hand axe does nothing against Brion’s heavy armour but it does surprise him enough that he’s barely able to defend himself from Vic’s attack with his own axe, “We will not let you get to the princess!”

“Doesn’t look like you have much of a choice!” Vic shouts and pushes the other off of him.

Meanwhile, when Rose crosses the bridge, she knows better than to let her guard down, feeling a familiar presence right behind her. She quickly ducks and rolls away just in time for a ray of purple to pass over her head, “I should’ve remembered you knew warp magic.”

“You did well to avoid my attack regardless,” Rachel floats down onto the ground and begins casting another spell, purple orbs appearing in her hands, “I’m not letting you anywhere near Her Highness.”

“That’s fine,” Rose readies her sword, “Only need to keep you distracted for long enough anyway,” she lunges at Rachel and swipes at her with her sword, jumping away from the magic she casts at her, “I appreciate what we have, Rae, but I’m not going to let that stop us from winning!”

Behind Rose, Rachel watches as Dick and Tim ride past Brion and Mal, with Dick jumping off his horse and slashing at Donna. She blocks his attack with her shield and tries to hit him with her axe, only to miss when he dodges, “You’ve gotten far, well done. But it was foolish of you to come here yourself. Once I strike you down, I will be declared victor.”

“Well, if you even hit me to begin with,” Dick taunts, constantly avoiding her attacks. When he sees an opening, he activates his crest and hits her shield, knocking it out of her hands, “You know I’m only holding back because I don’t want to hurt you, right?”

“You? Hurt me? Laughable,” Donna laughs and slashes at him again, “If this were a real fight, you know I would have your head.”

“I guess we’ll never know,” He ducks down and seeing an opportunity, he swipes down at her legs and knocks her down, “Although if this is any indicator,” he kicks the axe out of her hand and points his lance down at her, “It’s not looking very good for you, Your Highness.”

“And with that, the Battle of the Eagle and Lion has concluded!” Dinah’s consultant exclaims, ready to declare the victor, “The Blue Lion house wins this year’s battle!”

* * *

A knock on her door wasn’t something Barbara expected that evening. Since the archbishop had witnessed the fight there was no need for her to report anything, the knights were all off on missions, including Bruce, and her students were all off celebrating their victory, leaving her to relax in her dorm.

She stands up and leaves her bed, not bothering to put her cloak back on and opens the door to find Dick waiting on the other side, “Aren’t you supposed to be celebrating?”

“We’re inviting everyone to join us,” He explains to her, “And that includes the person who got us here in the first place. You, Professor. What do you say?”

“Won’t that be a little weird? Having a celebration with your teacher there?”

Dick chuckles and leans against her doorframe, “Hopefully this isn’t offensive but... aren’t you one of us anyway? You mark our papers and teach us but you also listen to all our problems, drink tea with us or eat with us in the dining hall... that’s not something faculty typically does. Your presence there will definitely be appreciated.”

“Alright,” Barbara reaches back into her dorm to grab her cloak and puts it on before closing and locking the door behind her, “I never had the chance to say this but congratulations. You did excellently today, the way you commanded everyone was clearly natural, and you did exactly what the team needed you to do. I’m sure that at this rate your master exams will be a breeze.”

“Wow...” Dick rubs the back of his neck, blushing, “T-thanks...”

* * *

“You good, man?” Wally asks when Dick slumps down in the seat opposite him and puts his head on the desk.

“No,” He mutters but makes little effort to explain himself, “I’m going to be the most ridiculed king when I’m crowned, and I’ll deserve it.”

Wally pushes his meal aside and rests his elbows on the table in front of them, “I like hanging out with you and all, but honestly you don’t seem all that different from the rest of the nobility. I don’t see why they would make fun of you. You know proper table manners and what to call who... uh, actually why are you talking to me about this? I can’t teach you any of that stuff.”

Dick lifts his head off the table and shakes his head, “House Grayson makes sure that all of its children knows proper formalities from the moment they begin to speak, whether they end up becoming the next ruler of Faerghus or not, so that’s not an issue for me. I... I can’t seem to hold a normal conversation with a girl. Last night during the celebration I tried to hold a normal conversation but it uh… well to say it went well would be lying.”

Wally blinks twice before he can even begin to answer that, “Your biggest concern.... is that you won’t be able to talk to a girl...? Oh is this a crest thing? I know the Kingdom is totally obsessed with continuing its bloodlines so-.”

Dick quickly shakes his head and cuts him off, “That wouldn’t be a problem. If I wanted to have a kid with my crest now, it’d be much easier to do than I’d like. Which is the problem, I’m supposed to be just another student but every time I talk to a woman I’m wondering if all she’s interested in is my crest or lineage.”

“Oh, so you can’t talk to them without thinking they have ulterior motives?” Wally asks to clarify and Dick only nods in response, “What about the girls in our class? You’re normal about them.”

The troubled prince begins listing them off on his fingers, “I’ve known Bette since we were children, I’ve known Zatanna for almost as long, Rose is my guard, Kory is far too honest and kind with us for me to believe that she’s hiding something like that, if Kara is after something it’s trying to get out of the monastery without Karen knowing, and Artemis... Artemis hates crests, nobility and to be completely honest she also scares me a little bit.”

“She scares all of us, Dick,” He agreed, looking around just in case she’d heard that, “Alright then, what about the professor? I see you talking to her all the time.”

“About class, about training, about Fódlan...” Dick trails off, “I can’t exactly talk about sword techniques with random women I come across in town.”

“You can always ask them to polish your sword.”

“I _refuse_ to say that to anyone with any language comprehension skills.”

Wally throws his hands up into the air, “well it works for me! But no you’re right, it only works because of what I have going for me, the cute boy-ish charm of someone who’s in way over their head with this whole academy business… we’ll need to give you some other thing... let me think on it, and I’ll get back to you!”

As he runs off, Dick slumps back against his chair, “Oh I’m so doomed.”


End file.
